HEALTH: Why Jakarta is the worst place in
Chiropractors are having a difficult time in Indonesia, where systematic clinic closures have left more than back ache in their wake.
Across the world people are increasingly looking to what’s loosely described as alternative medicines and medical treatments as a way to ease their aches and pains, rather than simply reaching for the nearest person carrying a prescription pad.
Chiropractors are one of the most popular within these fields, and specialise in regions like the back, spine, and joints, improving or maintaining mobility, which in turn can have a significant impact on other aspects of a person’s physical condition. It is proven to work with lower back pain, and there is evidence to show it can also help with musculoskeletal conditions involving bones, joints and soft tissue. It’s also available on the NHS.
Given the stringent safety and efficiency checks that go into anything nationalised and health related in the U.K, it might surprise some to learn that since January 2016 nobody in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city, has been able to visit a chiropractic clinic, and for one equally curious reason- the council has issued no new licenses since systematically closing down all practices.
The decision has caused widespread furore amongst the medical community internationally, but stems from a sensitive situation, with the 2015 death of Allya Siska Nadya immediately following a treatment session acting as catalyst for this current situation. After this, the clinics of two Australian practitioners, Anthony and Thomas Dawsons, were then closed down for apparent ‘illegal operations’, with police claiming they were ‘fake doctors’.
Whilst people have sprung to the defense of the Dawsons, the situation remains unchanged at the time of writing, and as such it’s unclear if Jakarta’s residents, or indeed the wider Indonesian population (clinics have also been shut in Bali), will ever be able to get help for their lower back pain again. What we can say for sure is that the most compelling evidence and research available suggests that, when performed by a trained professional, chiropractic treatments are safe and often effective, a message that seems at odds with the one coming out of Indonesia.
Image credit:Â (C) Mufid Afif
