More than 200 Indonesian children have died after taking syrups contaminated with toxic chemicals. Their parents want to make sure it can’t happen again
he Indonesian language has words for children who have lost their mothers or fathers, but none for parents who lose their children. Some say that is because the pain is inexplicable, something 42-year-old Safitri Puspa Rani can attest to.
Other families tell a similar story: their otherwise healthy children, sick with fever, went to see doctors who prescribed syrup medicines. Shortly after, they could not urinate, eat or drink. They would start bleeding severely and would need routine dialysis to stay alive.Photograph: Courtesy of Safitri Puspa Rani
A statement from Dingin Pakpahan, the legal team for PT Universal Pharmaceutical Industries, one of two producers sued by victims’ families, said it would follow the legal process. “We reported our supplier a day after the issue was found. The case is with the Indonesian police’s criminal investigation department,” a company statement said.
The parents also demand that the outbreak be classified as an “extraordinary event”, which means the government will cover all treatment expenses. Currently, treatment expenses are covered by Indonesia’s public health insurance, which the parents say is insufficient to cover co-morbidities that come with the injuries, and other costs.
But financial issues are only one of many facing these families. Their other children are forced to tag along to the hospital and miss school or attend classes virtually under the care of their grandparents, like Safitri’s oldest son.
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