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)