Volunteers required to monitor TB patients
Leony Aurora, Jakarta
Novita Dewi, 23, remembered a neighbor who lived in a house behind hers in Bandung, who had "this coughing fit every morning, sometimes so hard that he couldn't breathe".
Later, she heard from other neighbors that the man, who was in his 60s, had tuberculosis (TB).
With this in mind, Novita recently signed up as a volunteer at a stand in Mal Taman Anggrek, West Jakarta, set up by Hope Worldwide Indonesia, a health and education non-governmental organization (NGO).
"I will be a monitoring agent and also a guardian angel," Novita told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. "I don't know much about TB, but they (Hope) will provide the training."
A monitoring agent is an individual who makes sure that TB patients take their daily medication regularly for six months, while a guardian angel provides a monthly donation of Rp 50,000 (US$5.60) to cover a TB patient's medical expenses.
TB eradication program manager Gerung Karundeng told the Post this was Hope Worldwide's first attempt to train and appoint volunteers who were not health workers or direct relatives of TB patients.
"Some patients, like those from outside Jakarta, are without family. Some others need extra supervision from outside the family. If the patient is the head of a household, it's usually difficult for his children to do the monitoring," he said.
Monitoring agents have a vital role in the implementation of Direct Observed Treatment, Short Course, or DOTS, a method adopted by Indonesia to counter TB. They are the frontline who ensure the program's success, as patients often stop taking medication a few weeks into the treatment, because they feel better.
An unfinished prescription leads to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes TB, to develop an immunity to the medication and to a recurrence of TB in patients.
Karundeng said since the TB-causing bacteria was an airborne contagium, supervisors were instructed to wear masks during house visits.
"Few do so, however, because they don't want to embarrass the family they visit," he said.
"One precaution is that volunteers must not visit patients when they are not feeling well," said Karundeng, "because TB infections occur when a person's immune system is weak."
Each year, about 583,000 people in Indonesia contract TB infections, in addition to the 981,000 patients receiving treatment. Indonesia has the third highest number of TB cases in the world, with a national case detection rate of 41.3 percent in 2003.
Hope volunteer Slamet Simamora said most visitors were shocked upon learning these figures. "Most also want to know about the symptoms and its modes of transmission."
Since Hope's "Adopt a Lung" stand opened on June 27, nine volunteers have signed up, most of whom have opted to become guardian angels. The stand will be open until Aug. 25.
"The Ministry of Health provides medication for adult patients according to our needs," said Karundeng, adding that 4,460 people in Jakarta alone had received free treatment last year.
However, more funds are needed to provide free sputum smear microscopy, free medication for children and X-rays.
Hope Worldwide has a clinic on Jl. Walang Baru V No. 13, Plumpang, North Jakarta, and offers TB treatment and counseling services. For more information: Tel (021) 43909454 and website: www.id.HOPEww.org.
The Organization for Eradication of Tuberculosis (PPTI) also operates three clinics offering similar services: Jl. Baladewa 34, Central Jakarta, tel (021) 4241488; Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda 66A, South Jakarta; and Jl. Dermaga I, Muara Angke, North Jakarta.