HEALTH CARE

Across the globe, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) infect more than one billion people, trapping the younger generation in a vicious cycle of poverty and stigma. However, they have become less “neglected” in recent years. In the past decade, the number of people who required treatment for NTDs is down by 25%, and 47 countries have eliminated at least one NTD in their territory alone – including the eight countries who did so just in the past year. However, the world continues to face multiple, deep-rooted challenges that are only worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic – including how to earn and manage sustainable funding to continue NTD-related programs, initiatives, or interventions in multiple countries. 

The pandemic has cruelly reminded all stakeholders of the importance of health. No matter what your agenda is, you will never generate, let alone maintain a productive, independent, and fair society. This is why everyone – industrialists, academicians, and common civilians – must all support Health Transformation, for the sake of a healthier Indonesia. 

The WHO 2020 records show that a total of 10 million deaths in the world per year are from cancer, and that 70% of them occur in developing countries, including Indonesia. According to Globocan 2020 data, just in Indonesia the number of new breast cancer cases is 68,858 cases (16.6%) out of a total of 396,914 new cancer cases, with an annual death rate of more than 22,000. The second most prevalent neoplasm is cervical cancer, with 36,633 new cases a year or 9.2% of the total. 

Behind the many conveniences brought to us by technology, rapid industrial and transportation over the decades bring an accumulation of threats to human health and the very existence of nature, because of the land, water, and air pollution they generate. Air pollution is one of the biggest health and environmental issues in the world: it contributes to 11.65% of all deaths worldwide and is a major health risk. It is a major cause of respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory tract infection, tuberculosis (“TB”), asthma, chronic lung obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”), lung cancer and fibrosis of the lungs.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that frequently affects children. Other than lowering the child patient’s quality of life, it also restricts their social functionality and can damages the mental stability of both the child and the parents. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital Jakarta noted a steep decrease in epilepsy patient visits, at 63.1% lower than the visit in the year immediately before the pandemic. The Hospital’s 2020-2022 Outpatient Polyclinic medical records show that there were only 14,402 child neurology patients in the polyclinic for the period, with 5,760 (40%) of them being epilepsy patients. 

The kidney is an organ with multiple functions. These include expelling toxins and metabolism remnants through urine, maintaining the balance of electrolytes and fluids in the body, excreting hormones that regulate blood pressure, generating active-form vitamin D that maintains the strength and health of the bones, and producing the hormone erythropoietin that generates the red blood cells (erythrose). During the process, because of various factors, they kidney may suffer from either acute or chronic kidney disorder (“CKD”). 

The Safe Internet Day is commemorated to ensure that children can access the internet for education, entertainment and socializing safely and fairly, without having to fear online predators. It is one of the ways to raise awareness of the need to protect the younger generation from all kinds of online violence

According to Ministry of Health data in 2022, the prevalence of cancer in Indonesia is 136 cases per 100,000 of the population, or 8th highest in the Southeast Asia region. The commonest form of cancer among our women is breast cancer, at 42 cases per 100,000 of the population and a death rate of 17 deaths per 100,000 of the population, followed by cervical cancer (23 incidents per 100,000 of the population, 14 deaths per 100,000 of the population). Among men, lung cancer is the most dangerous disease (19 incidents per 100,000 of the population and 11 deaths per 100,000 of the population), followed by liver cancer (12 incidents per 100,000 of the population, 8 deaths per 100,000 of the population). 

Dengue remains a public health problem. Globally, most dengue cases reported are from Latin America and Southeast Asia. 3,766,153 infection cases and 3,582 deaths were reported as of 19 December 2022. The countries with the highest number of cases are Brazil (2,182,229), Vietnam (325,604), Philippines (201,509), India (110,473), Indonesia (94,355) with a majority of deaths being in Brazil (929), Indonesia (852), Philippines (656), Vietnam (112), and India (86). 

Stunting is caused by chronic malnutrition, with its greatest effect in the first 1,000 days of life, i.e. from the time the child is a fetus until they become a two-year-old baby. In terms of nutrition, Indonesia faces a triple burden of stunting, wasting and obesity, and illnesses caused by insufficient macronutrients, such as anemia. Malnutrition, which is caused by excessive as well as insufficient nutrition ingestion, occurs when the body fails to obtain the correct amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. 

The rainy season is usually accompanied by a heightened risk of infection from various diseases, including influenza and dengue fever. The fever is an especially vicious and potentially fatal disease, especially if it infects an obese child. We need to intensify our efforts to suppress the fever and recognize its initial symptoms, to lower the risk of serious illness or death.