Jakarta –

Long queues at a number of hospitals are a real picture of people’s access to health facilities in Indonesia before independence.

Many patients are not helped due to limited health facilities. Never mind sophisticated matters, the tools are not adequate. Plus, there is the problem of a shortage of doctors and health workers.

One of the crucial ones is related to the case of a child with congenital heart disease (CHD). In order to prepare for the upcoming 2045 demographic bonus, their health is the main key behind the country’s productivity which then influences economic growth. The government has big ‘PR’. How could it not be, the Indonesian Ministry of Health notes that every year 12 to 15 thousand children are born with congenital heart disease.

Of this total, only 6 thousand children were able to receive surgery. The rest? Like relying on a miracle through prayer. Apart from the lack of qualified equipment, the number of surgeons is only around 160 doctors throughout the country. If detailed further, only 17 of them became pediatric heart surgery specialists.

“We have been independent for 77 years. However, 9,000 babies still have to die from curable heart defects that cannot be treated, because there are no tools and no specialist doctors,” said the Indonesian Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, on several occasions.

Luckily, if the patient quickly gets a direct referral to a national referral hospital. What about patients in areas with all limitations? Too late to refer, life is at stake.

The sad story of a mother bringing her child to the capital

As feared by Rika, a 23 year old woman from Sukabumi. The unpleasant news came when her child, who had just turned 9 months old, began to complain of symptoms of coughing, colds and even shortness of breath that would not subside.

Asked to undergo regular treatment, Rika went back and forth to the general practitioner for two months. However, the conditions have not changed much. Feeling that something was wrong, he decided to immediately take his son to hospital.

“My son still often had coughs, colds and shortness of breath. After that I took my own initiative, took him to the hospital, there he had his blood checked again, the result was that my son had another disease, apart from pneumonia it turned out he had another disease, namely anemia,” said Rika, when contacted on Sunday (29/10/2023).

The doctor at that time said his son had complications, he underwent intensive treatment for about a week, then was allowed to go home.

“However, during a week at home, my child experienced coughing, shortness of breath and fever again. When he was treated again, when he had his blood checked again, my child’s HB was low, he had to have a blood transfusion, while he was being treated for almost 3 weeks, my child’s condition never improved. ,” he continued.

Even though the fever finally subsided so that the blood transfusion process could be resumed, Rika was shocked when her child’s temperature suddenly rose to almost 40 degrees Celsius. At that time, Rika’s child also experienced steps or convulsions. He then decided to take his child to another hospital in Sukabumi.

“I took another initiative to force myself to go home, because my child’s condition was worrying. That day I immediately went home and continued to take my child to the hospital in the city, where my child immediately received treatment and was hospitalized for a week. Thank God it lasted “My child is getting better and his weight has increased to 2 kilograms,” he said.

Another diagnosis that surprised Rika was that her son had been suffering from an Atrial Septal Defect or a leak in the heart atrium due to congenital heart disease. Rika’s son had to receive immediate treatment so he was referred directly to the Harapan Kita National Heart Center Hospital.

There are no hospitals capable of treating children with congenital heart cases due to limited equipment.

As a result, Rika’s burden increased, the cost of medical treatment and travel automatically increased many times over. As single parent In the midst of economic limitations, Rika was forced to take her child to the capital by public transportation, even using a truck to go to Ciawi from Sukabumi, then continuing the journey from Bogor to Jakarta.

“At that time, to go to Jakarta, I took a truck accompanied by my mother, to take my son, thank God, even though I only got as far as Ciawi, the truck driver gave me money, instead of giving it to me because he was hitching a ride,” he said.

Queue for Services at Hospital Photo: detikHealth infographic

Rika, is just one of many illustrations of the difficulty of accessing health services. Data from Harapan Kita Children’s and Mother’s Hospitals records that more than 300 children are born with congenital heart disease (CHD) every year. Many of them are forced to wait for their scheduled surgery for approximately six months.

Not without reason, the NICU bed occupancy rate (BOR) often exceeds 90 percent. The reason is, many children require longer treatment because their body weight is below 3 kg. Meanwhile, to carry out surgery, the child’s weight must exceed this figure and this is the main requirement.

“The NICU BOR space is more than 90 percent, if this comes out faster, then this NICU can be used by other babies so that the flow and queues can be better,” explained the Main Director of RSAB Harapan Kita, Dr. Ockti Palupi Rahayuningtyas , MPH, MH Kes, some time ago.

Dr. Ockti said that his party then opened a new interventional radiology catheterization service for babies and children which allows babies to undergo surgery immediately in the hope of reducing hospitalization time more quickly, so that patients do not have to wait months.

NEXT: Strategy of the Indonesian Ministry of Health

(naf/naf)

2023-10-30 14:25:43
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