UNAIR NEWS – The healthcare services in Indonesia, especially in Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) and Palliative Care are still lagging behind several neighboring countries. The problem encouraged the American Corner at Universitas Airlangga to collaborate with RounD in organizing the “Improving NCD and Palliative Care in Indonesia” webinar on Tuesday, November 21, 2023.
The webinar was held in hybrid at the Consulate General of the United States and Zoom meeting. Several speakers were featured in the forum, they are dr. Farizal Rizky Muharram and dr. Raden Lintang Sagoro, Master’s students in Global Health Delivery at Harvard Medical School; dr. Muhammad Thoriq, General Manager of PT Nusantara Medika Solusindo; and dr. Muhammad Kamil, Ph.D from the Department of Neurosurgery at Universitas Airlangga.
NCDs are non-transmissible diseases that are not caused by bacteria or microorganisms.
Though it cannot be spread through people and is not as immediately dangerous as the infectious ones like COVID-19, the diseases need serious attention due to their deadly risk. Palliative care is an approach for patients with serious illnesses.
In the field of palliative care, dr. Lintang claimed that Indonesia lags behind its neighbor, Malaysia. “There are many disparities in healthcare facilities compared to Malaysia, but we can still catch up,” he said.
Palliative Care
In line with the statement, dr. Kamil stated that in Japan, palliative care is significantly supported by the government. Unfortunately, it hasn’t met expectations in Indonesia. However, he believed that it is caused by the public’s low awareness of palliative care and the limited coverage of the topic in the medical school curriculums.
“For almost two decades in medical school, I think the curriculum regarding palliative care and patient communication might have been insufficient. However, this information still needs verification with accurate data,” he said.
On the other hand, dr. Thoriq said that health issues can be addressed by anyone, not limited to doctors. Make kindness to anyone, no matter how small.
“Start a change, like organizing a small community in your neighborhood, which might be impactful,” he said.
At the end of the webinar, dr. Farizal proposed the idea that the policymaker’s trust in NCD and palliative healthcare quality improvement is required. It must focus on coverage and customer satisfaction.
He noted that some Community Health Centers (Puskesmas) and hospitals received bad ratings in Google Maps. He also concluded that an equal healthcare system needs collaboration and investment.
Author: Danar Trivasya Fikri
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
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