As a result, health financing for (the treatment of) diabetes and its complications also surged.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono has asked all personnel of 300 thousand integrated health posts (posyandu) across Indonesia to intensively conduct diabetes risk screening for the community.

"The massive number (of posyandu) is the initial capital to intensify diabetes risk checks for the community," he said at the “Dissemination on Diabetes Mellitus Type 2” discussion, which was followed online from here on Monday.

According to an International Diabetes Federation report, 14 million out of the 19 million Indonesians who are suffering from diabetes have not been diagnosed -- meaning that three out of four people do not know that they have diabetes.

Hence, it has become increasingly urgent to intensify the handling of the disease, especially since Indonesia has the fifth largest number of diabetes patients after China, India, Pakistan, and the United States, the deputy minister said.

The report also showed an increase in the prevalence of diabetes to 10.9 percent in 2018. Furthermore, in terms of the number of deaths due to diabetes, Indonesia rose from sixth place in 2009 to third place in 2019.

"As a result, health financing for (the treatment of) diabetes and its complications also surged," Harbuwono noted.

More than Rp12 trillion of National Health Insurance (JKN) was spent in 2021 for treating heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure, which were mainly caused by diabetes mellitus complications.

According to the Health Ministry, there are a number of reasons for the high mortality rate due to diabetes in Indonesia, including high sugar intake and inadequate treatment.

"The sugar consumption of Indonesia is the third highest in ASEAN. Sweetened drinks are cheap and sold widely without warning labels for their calorie content," he pointed out.

He said that the community also needs to pay attention to various risk factors for diabetes, including obesity, diet patterns, low physical activity, and smoking.

The 10 thousand community health centers (Puskesmas) and 11 thousand private health clinics in Indonesia also need to be involved in intensifying diabetes risk screening, Harbuwono said.

“Both of them should be given a performance target (for conducting diabetes risk screening),” he suggested.

The target is that all diabetes patients must be monitored at least via telemedicine or virtual consultation and their blood sugar level must be controlled regularly, or every one–two months.

Furthermore, the next target will be that at least 50 percent of the patients must achieve their controlled blood sugar level target.

Related news: Vice Minister equates Indonesia's diabetes problem to an iceberg
Related news: Indonesia and Denmark collaborate to expand access to diabetes treatment


Translator: Andi Firdaus, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022