Nurfika Osman & Candra Malik

Doctors are still testing Bilqis' mother, Dewi Farida, to find out whether she is a good donor candidate. (Antara Photo)

Doctors Believe Mother Best Hope for Bilqis’ Transplant

Doctors treating 17-month-old toddler Bilqis Anindya Passa, who is in critical need of a liver transplant, said on Tuesday they were willing to risk using the toddler’s mother as the donor, even though she has a different blood type.

“The doctor’s team can use drugs to handle the reactions caused by blood-type differences to prevent rejection of the liver,” said Muhammad Alfan, spokesman for state-run Kariadi Hospital in Semarang.

He added that further tests would be conducted on the mother, Dewi Farida, to learn more about her health and that samples of her blood would be sent off to a US laboratory for further screening.

A nationwide movement on Facebook has managed to raise Rp 1.5 billion ($160,500) to fund the transplant for Bilqis, whose family cannot afford to pay for the surgery.

“It is going to be a long process before the doctors decide on the right time to perform the surgery. During the wait, both mother and daughter will be quarantined to make sure they will be in perfect health when the surgery is finally scheduled,” Alfan said.

Bilqis’s grandfather Ocan Sjamsier had at first objected to the doctor’s decision to choose Dewi as the donor, but was then “assured” that the biological relationship would lessen the risks of rejection, and so accepted the doctor’s decision.

The hospital declined to reveal the typical waiting time for patients to receive a matching liver, although other health center sources have said that it could take years in Indonesia, pushing many to seek transplant surgery overseas.

Just two months ago, cash-strapped Indonesians were found selling their organs online on www.iklanoke.com, exploiting a loophole in local laws and fueling a dangerous and illegal trade in human organs.

Many of the advertisers — students, professionals and even housewives — were not shy about using their real names or leaving contact numbers.

Indonesians nationwide have expressed concern over Bilqis’s case and the abysmal medical treatment the poor receive in this country, particularly because the government only said it would pay for the procedure after Facebook members and individual donors had raised enough money for the transplant.

The government, according to National Awakening Party (PKB) lawmaker Abdul Kadir Karding, should set up a special budget for emergency cases like that of Bilqis, who is suffering from biliary atresia, a rare condition caused by the absence of, or blockage to, major bile ducts.

“Bilqis is just one of many with such a condition. We can see how beneficial it would have been if the government had already established a special budget to help children with special conditions like her,” Abdul was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

Usman Sumantri, head of the Ministry of Health’s financing and insurance unit, confirmed on Tuesday that all pre- and post-operative bills in regard to Bilqis’s treatment would be paid by the state.

“We are planning to have a special budget for special cases in the future. Anyone entitled to Jamkesmas [state health insurance for the poor] should not be worried as their medical expenses will be covered by the state. The ministry took time to confirm the financial support because it needed to ensure that there wasn’t any other financial support for Bilqis,” Usman said.

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