Make cancer treatment open to all

Make cancer treatment open to all

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday said that despite
the huge cost, cancer treatment should be available to as many
sufferers as possible in Indonesia, irrespective of their ability
to pay.

Opening an international cancer conference, Soeharto said that
cancer, which is fast becoming one of the main killer diseases in
the country, is indiscriminate, inflicting the rich and the poor.

"I hope that people all over the country have access to the
same services in the control of cancer," he said at the opening
ceremony at the State Palace. "A sense of security and confidence
will emerge at receiving the same quality of health services
anywhere in the country."

"Efforts must be made to find the best possible way of
reducing the cost. Otherwise cancer patients will face two
problems simultaneously. Beside suffering from a disease that can
very well take their lives, they will also be burdened by high
medical costs."

He urged the 800 or so experts attending the three-day cancer
conference to find ways and means of overcoming the shortage of
funds, something that is characteristic of developing countries,
in dealing with cancer.

The President noted that in 1989, one in every 1,000
Indonesians had cancer. The number is increasing rapidly with the
changing pattern of diet and lifestyle, he added.

Soeharto said he, in his personal capacity, has already made a
start in encouraging the widest participation of people in
fighting cancer.

Donations

The Dharmais Cancer Hospital in Jakarta, managed by the
Dharmais Foundation which he chairs, was built with money from
donations from the business community, he pointed out.

He added that the hospital, with the Ministry of Health, is
developing a community-based cancer treatment program.

Nigel Gray, the president of the International Union Against
Cancer, in his remarks at the ceremony, warned that cancer will
progressively become a major cause of death in Indonesia, as it
has in many other parts of the world.

He warned that a screening program, now becoming more widely
available through developments in medical science, would not be
successful unless a simultaneous effort was made at making
treatment more available to the people.

Gray said that priority should be given for the early
detection of cervical cancer, breast cancer, oral cancer and lung
cancer, the latter through anti-smoking campaigns.

Gray however warned against expecting quick results with the
campaign against smoking.

From experience in Britain and Australia, lung cancer death
rates do not start to fall for at least two to three decades
after the beginning of anti-smoking campaigns, he said.

"Epidemics of tobacco-induced cancer have a minimum time frame
of 50 to 80 years and all countries which consume tobacco in
large quantities must face the fact that they will need to make a
very large commitment of treatment resources before the effects
of a preventive program are seen." (emb)