RI pioneers new cancer program
RI pioneers new cancer program
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is currently developing a community- based cancer treatment program as one way of coping with the huge cost that patients, and society, have to bear.
A pilot project in a number of areas is currently underway in Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta and Bali for the development of such programs.
Presenting the main points of the project at an international seminar, Soejoga, the director general of medical services at the Ministry of Health, stressed that such a program should take into account the ethos and needs of the local communities.
"Each area has its own characteristics, so what we need to outline and agree to in this meeting is a basic pattern of community roles," he told the seminar on Sunday, held at the Dharmais Cancer Hospital on the eve of the Jakarta International Cancer Conference.
The project marks the start of a five-year program in the development of a national cancer control strategy, which stresses the early detection of cancer. The program also aims at increasing the capacity of the nation's hospitals in treating cancer.
Cancer currently ranks the sixth most common cause of death in Indonesia, but it is moving up the ranks quickly.
According to the ministry of health, each year Indonesia sees an additional 190,000 people with cancer. At least a fifth of them are terminal cases.
Soejoga encouraged non-governmental organizations to play a larger role in raising people's awareness about the disease as well as in raising funds.
He praised the role played by the Indonesian Cancer Foundation, chaired by Karlina Wirahadikusumah, the wife of former vice president Umar Wirahadikusumah, and suggested that grassroots movements, such as the community family welfare organization, should also be involved.
Soejoga said any cancer treatment program should not be a burden to the community.
"The basic pattern of community roles must eventually cover other ailments besides cancer," Soejoga said. This is important, he added, "as those at the grassroots level tend to get bored with too many messages. This is particularly true of rural people who have little spare time as most of their time is spent in earning a living."
Robert K. Farley, head of Jakarta's representative office of the World Health Organization, told the same forum that the UN agency fully supports the Indonesian program.
Farley noted "the outstanding efforts" in spreading and increasing awareness of the early detection of cancer, mainly in the project in Sidoarjo, East Java.
Soejoga said that unlike in advanced countries, 80 percent of patients with cancer here are incurable because medical advice is only sought at a later stage of the disease.
Bagus Mulyadi, the chief for special and private hospitals at the Ministry of Health, added that this is partly due to "distrust toward modern medical treatment" among the people.
The seminar on Sunday was followed by the launching of a course on home care for terminally ill patients.
Called Hospice Home Care, the course held by the Cancer Foundation aims at equipping medical staff and volunteers to guide families on how to treat and live with terminally ill people with cancer.
Wirahadikusumah said the Foundation has invited experts from Singapore and Malaysia, two countries with more experience in the field. "We aim to improve the quality of life of those who are terminally ill," she said, adding that the Home Care services are free of charge.
Soejoga called for greater efforts in lessening the cost of treating cancer. One injection of a combination of drugs, which must be repeated, costs around Rp 500,000 (US$223.7).
Wirahadikusumah said that so far the Foundation can only raise Rp 17 million a month, sufficient only to provide care for between 20 to 30 patients. Others have to be turned down.
Selection is based on the applicants' proved inability to pay, and medical opinion that their illness is still curable. (anr)