HEALTH CARE

Arrhythmia or heart rhythm disturbances are diagnosed as a heartbeat that is too fast, too slow, or irregular, because the electrical impulses in the heart don’t fire properly. In addition to mild symptoms such as palpitations, dizziness, and lightheadedness, these disorders increase the risk of stroke, heart failure, fainting and even sudden cardiac death. The number of sufferers continues to increase, inversely proportional to the lack of access to arrhythmia treatment and the presence of cardiologists and blood vessel specialists in Indonesia; in fact, only 46 people are recorded are possessing this specialization. 

The high level of air pollution correlates with an increase in disease, especially respiratory illness. Surveillance data from the Health Ministry from January to July 2023 in the Greater Jakarta (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi) showed that there was an increase in cases of upper respiratory tract infection (ISPA) and pneumonia compared to the previous year, averaging about 100,000 cases per month. According to Dr. dr. Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, DHSM, MARS, Director General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) of the Health Ministry, ISPA cases in August have increased to nearly 200,000 cases. 

Ministry of Health noted an increase in cases of acute respiratory infections (ISPA) due to deteriorating air quality in Greater Jakarta recently.

Globally, the trend of hospitalization and death from Covid-19 continues to show a significant and stable downward movement. In Indonesia, our Ministry of Health 2021-2023 serosurvey studies show that based on the results of whole gene sequencing, a positivity rate of 0.31%, with more than 453 million doses of vaccine administered, so that 64% of the population obtain a full suite of vaccines, 99% of Indonesian citizens now have the SARS-CoV-2 antibody. 

Worm infection remains a serious problem worldwide. Every year, 24% of the world population, or 1.5 billion people, suffer from this condition. Of these, 270 million are pre-school children, and another 700 million are school-age children living in areas prone to transmission of the worm larvae. 

As a group, children are vulnerable to health issues. According to the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey, the prevalence of stunting in Indonesia has declined from 24.4% in 2021 to 21.6% in 2022.

As the dry season progresses, air pollution in the Jakarta region continues to worsen over the past few months. Complaints of bad air quality have been aired from March 2023 until now, the middle of August. During this period, IQAir, the renowned Swiss air quality information platform, has repeatedly alerted all that Jakarta’s air quality is in the “red” (unhealthy for everyone) and “orange” (unhealthy for sensitive groups) categories. 

Mother’s milk is the optimal food for babies. This is why the WHO has declared the first week of August each year as World Nursing Week. In Indonesia, the importance of supplying mother’s milk for the first thousand days of life is being championed in the effort to intervene against stunting. 

Every time I exit the Kebayoran Lama train station, the sky goes cloudy as if it would rain soon, far as the eye can see. However, it is not cloud or fog, but smoky pollution. In fact, on Tuesday, 8 August 2023, the Jakarta accumulative air pollution index measures 164, while according to the WHO Air Quality Guidelines for Particulate Matter, Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide And Sulfur Dioxide, the safe threshold for PM2.5 exposure is 25 μg/m3/24 hour. According to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency, the current air pollution range level of 151-250 μg/m3 is extremely unhealthy. 

Health Ministry (Kemenkes) is committed to preventing cervical cancer by intensifying free Human Papillomavirus (HPV) immunization for young girls nationwide.

Tuberculosis or “TB” is a potentially fatal and extremely infectious disease. Pathogens fly freely and spread through the air when a sufferer coughs, sneezes or merely talks. According to the 2022 Global Tuberculosis Report, TB incidence in Indonesia in 2021 was 969,000 cases, with 144,000 deaths. This means that Indonesia is the country with the second-highest TB incidence, after India (2.95 million cases), rising one rank from the previous year.