"Telementoring development through ECHO is a very good effort for us to conduct health transformation," she remarked during the “National Cancer Service Expansion: Best Practices and Roadmap for ECHO Telementoring” discussion, which was held online on Thursday.
Given the rising prevalence of cancer in Indonesia and the limitations of health workers and facilities, the government is carrying out active cooperation with both the public and private sectors, she said.
This is being done to support the prevention, early detection, and medication program for cancer patients, she added.
The number of doctors specializing in medical hematological-oncological diseases in Indonesia currently stands at just 188, while the number of oncological surgeons is only 202.
The figure is far below the demand for cancer treatment wherein the number of physicians is 0.7 per 100,000 of the population.
The figure is very low compared to the ratio recommended by the UK Royal College of Physicians at 1.42 per 100 thousand of the population.
To this end, Anaya lauded the initiative and collaboration between the National Cancer Center at the Dharmais Cancer Hospital and Roche Indonesia for Project ECHO in Indonesia.
She said she expects many more health workers and hospitals to participate in and adopt the ECHO telementoring program for cancer handling.
"And let us hope in the future that it can be developed for other diseases," she remarked.
During the event, president director of Dharmais Cancer Hospital, R. Soeko Werdi Nindito, noted that the ECHO telementoring program can be utilized as a way to bolster health workers' capacity for treating cancer patients.
In practice, a team of experts provides virtual clinical assistance to improve health workers' capacity so that they can give the best treatment to people who have not been treated in their regions.
Thus, cancer patients residing in regions with limited access can still receive first-aid or treatment, he said.
Ever since it was unveiled seven months ago, several programs have been successfully carried out using the ECHO telementoring method.
They include the ECHO breast cancer as well as ECHO child cancer (acute leukemia) program based on the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) diagnosis approach.
Another example is a pilot project for ECHO breast cancer early detection in Tangerang, Banten, which is being conducted through a collaboration between the Indonesian Breast Cancer Foundation (YKPI) and the Breast Cancer Care Community (KPKP).
Related news: Detect breast cancer early through self, clinical examination: gov't
Related news: Prevent maternal, child mortality from cancer, infections: minister
Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
