Z

ainudin, from West Jurang Mangu in Pondok Aren district, South Tangerang, could not hide his deep regret at the death of his 2-year-old daughter Naila because she could not get the proper medical treatment.

Zainudin said he could not make the down payment to get his daughter into a pediatric intensive care unit (ICU).

"The hospitals that had ICUs for children were asking for millions of rupiah as a down payment, and I couldn't afford to pay," Zainudin said Sunday.

His story began when he took his daughter to Aqidah Hospital in Ciledug late Thursday after she suffered a complication.

The family declined to say what that complication was.

Because the hospital lacked an ICU, it referred them to Bhakti Asih Hospital, also in Ciledug and also without an ICU.

The doctor on duty at Bhakti Asih then referred the family to the much bigger Bintaro International Hospital.

Zainudin said he then called up the hospital for confirmation about the ICU, and was told he would have to pay Rp 10 million in advance and Rp 8 million a day for the treatment in the pediatric ICU.

Because he had no money, he went on, he then contacted JMC Hospital on Jl. Buncit Raya, South Jakarta.

The hospital demanded a down payment of Rp 15 million and daily treatment fees of Rp 4 million.

A call to another hospital, Harapan Kita in West Jakarta, netted a quote for an advance payment of Rp 18 million, Zainudin said.

Flustered with the runaround, he finally decided to leave Naila at Bhakti Asih, putting her fate, as he said, "in God's hands."

She died the next morning.

"Why do the hospitals always think of money first before giving help to save a life?" he said.

Naila's uncle, Dody, said hospitals should not ask for money up front, and instead focus on their function of saving lives.

"Hospitals here just focus on the commercial aspect rather than helping human beings," he said.

"It's a given that they'll demand the money first before helping."

Dody added he had helped Zainudin call and visit hospitals prior to Naila's death, but had been met with demands for down payments of Rp 10 million to Rp 15 million.