PERKI Supports Enhanced Heart Disease Prevention Efforts

The Central Board of the Indonesian Association of Cardiovascular Specialists (PERKI) supports increasing efforts to prevent heart disease in order to reduce its incidence. Chairman of the PERKI Central Board, Dr. Ade Meidian Ambari, Sp.JP, FIHA, stated during a media event in Jakarta on Thursday that the association’s vision and mission are to reduce the occurrence of heart and vascular diseases in Indonesia. Speaking at an event held alongside the 35th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Indonesian Heart Association (ASMIHA), he stressed the importance of educating both the public and healthcare workers to improve their understanding of cardiovascular disease prevention. “There is primary prevention for those with risk factors, how to avoid coronary heart disease, or for those who have had a ring inserted or a bypass, to prevent needing another ring,” he said. “It is our task to provide education, not only to doctors and nurses, but to the community,” he added. He also highlighted the need to foster better communication between patients and doctors in heart health services. According to him, this relates to the level of patient trust in the quality of domestic healthcare services. “I dare say that we have many patients in Indonesia. So our doctors’ flying hours are high. In Singapore, they don’t have as many patients as we do. But their advantage is they write more, so more people know about them,” he said. “Meanwhile, our doctors have many patients and no time to write, so ultimately people don’t know them,” he added. Furthermore, he emphasised the importance of improving the welfare and protection of healthcare workers in efforts to enhance the quality of health services. “We are improving our quality, our service,” he said. He noted that PERKI is collaborating with the Ministry of Health, the collegium, and BPJS Kesehatan to improve the protection and welfare of doctors.