We will (prioritize) breast cancer due to its prevalence, then cervix cancer. We will also improve health cadres' knowledge to encourage more residents in the productive age to undergo cancer screening.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government is ready to implement four strategies to prevent and handle cancer cases in Indonesia, Director of non-communicable disease prevention and control at the Health Ministry Eva Susanti has informed.



The four strategies consist of health promotion, special protection, early detection and case handling, and palliative care, according to the Health Minister’s Regulation No. 71 of 2015 on the prevention of non-communicable diseases, she said during a media discussion here on Saturday.



"We will also provide cancer screening services regularly at public health centers. Those four strategies must be implemented concertedly (through) cross-sector (collaboration) to extensively disseminate information and education," Susanti added.


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Despite cancer being a life-threatening non-communicable disease, people’s knowledge of some forms of cancers, such as ovarian cancer, is notably lower compared to others, including breast and cervical cancers, she noted.



Ovarian cancer is eighth among the main causes of death in women and is the third most common cancer in Indonesia in terms of incidence and mortality rates, she pointed out.



As lack of knowledge about the disease is one of the challenges to promoting early detection and handling, the ministry has committed to bolstering campaigns on early detection of ovarian cancer, she said.


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The ministry is also utilizing social media platforms, including TikTok, to ensure that the ovarian cancer early detection campaign reaches more audiences, particularly the younger generation, she added.



“We are creating educative campaigns through social media and (social media) influencers to encourage more people to conduct early screening to improve (cancer) handling, and this requires support from various parties,” Susanti said.



Moreover, the ministry is committed to transforming healthcare services at the primary stage by providing better equipment at local public health centers and cancer screening training to health officers, she added.



"We will (prioritize) breast cancer due to its prevalence, then cervix cancer. We will also improve health cadres' knowledge to encourage more residents in the productive age to undergo cancer screening," she said.



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Translator: Maria Cicilia, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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