Rismaharini remarked that to handle acute kidney injury, the aid has to be delivered several times, and this requires a large sum of money.
"If I have to do it, I have to request help from Kitabisa, Benih Baik (Indonesian online fundraising platforms) for (covering) the costs. We do not have the money to do it continuously," she remarked.
To this end, the minister had already reported this matter to Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy. The ministry has already received the aid recipient data from Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
To this day, the Social Affairs Ministry's budget for operations in centers that it manages is only around Rp300 billion, or US$19.54 million.
Meanwhile, the budget for disaster handling had already been reduced to almost 50 percent.
As a result, Rismaharini said she has to be careful in spending the budget, especially since her ministry's centers had changed as compared to the previous years, with the presence of a multiservice scheme.
In particular, the ministry's centers have become rehabilitation centers for various groups, such as mental health patients, abandoned children, and children facing legal troubles.
She also noted that the budget was currently used for patients outside Java that were unable to cover their living expenses, so that they can receive health services in Jakarta.
Moreover, the unexpected occurrence of the Kanjuruhan tragedy also caused the compensation budget to tank to negative, so in providing aid, the minister could only rely on the budget from the centers.
Earlier, Effendy stated that the aid for child patients of atypical progressive acute kidney injury was being processed by the Social Affairs Ministry. The government ensures that kidney injury victims receive attention.
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Translator: Devi Nindy S R, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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