Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | 16:57 WIB

Beating cardiovascular disease:
a matter for every beating heart

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Jakarta, IO – Current WHO data reveal that coronary heart disease and strokes continue to be top two causes of fatalities worldwide, with a global death rate of 18.6 million a year. This rate is actually expected to rise to 20.5 million in the 2020s and even 24.2 million by 2030. In Indonesia, heart disease and stroke are also the top two causes of death, imposing the greatest burden on the Health Security Service (BPJS), estimated at a liability of IDR 10 trillion. 

“The initial challenge we face is the high rate of morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular disease, which worsens with emerging illnesses (Covid-19, for example). Referral medical services in all of Indonesia’s provinces must be able to at least install stents and perform open heart surgery, in the effort to lower this death rate,” reported dr. Radityo Prakoso, Sp.JP(K), FIHA, FAPSIC, FAsCC, Chairman of Indonesia Cardiovascular Specialists’ Association (Perhimpunan Dokter Spesialis Kardiovaskuler Indonesia – “PERKI”) Central Management, in the “PERKI’s Strategic Role in the Transformation of Cardiovascular Health (Heart and Blood Vessels)” webinar held last Thursday (04/08/2022). 

dr. Radityo Prakoso, Sp.JP(K), FIHA, FAPSIC, FAsCC
dr. Radityo Prakoso, Sp.JP(K), FIHA, FAPSIC, FAsCC. (Source: BRAWIJAYA HOSPITAL)

The second challenge is the insufficient number of specialized education and training centers (and naturally, competent and certified trainers); in this era of free movement of labor, that there is a greater opportunity for foreign heart and coronary blood vessel specialists to enter Indonesia. “Indonesia only has 1,485 heart specialists across the country, to serve our 273.5 million citizens. Therefore, PERKI will be synergizing with the Ministry of Health to accelerate the generation of new heart and blood vessel specialists, by providing sustainable education in cardiovascular medicine. Apart from increasing the quality and quantity of these specialists, we are going to equalize their distribution and availability across the Homeland.” 

The third challenge is that current regulations do not align with a budget required to provide adequate cardiovascular medical services. And finally, PERKI’s role as the Ministry of Health’s advocate and collaborator in cardiovascular disease is severely limited, due to the lack of a viable national database for this condition. 

Read: Heart failure and methods to avoid it

At the same event, dr. Oktavia Lilyasari, SpJP(K), FIHA, PERKI Central Management’s General Secretary, reminded everyone that 80% of cardiovascular disease can be prevented early, by pursuing a healthy lifestyle. “Reduce sugar consumption, increase daily consumption of plain water, consume 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day, restrict intake of salt-laden snacks, and perform physical exercise 5 days a week, for 30 minutes each time. But most importantly, stop smoking immediately. Multiple studies prove that the risk of heart disease goes down by half within a mere two years after you stop smoking,” she said. (est)

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