The Ministry's Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Handling Director, Eva Susanti, noted during the Health Broadcast streamed online, Monday (February 13), that this data was obtained from the World Health Organization's (WHO's) report in 2020.
The number of cases and deaths in developed countries is smaller, as they have far better handling. Unfortunately, this cannot yet be realized in developing countries.
Moreover, based on the Globocan data in 2021, it was reported that in Indonesia, the number of breast cancer cases had reached 65,858, while the count of cervical cancer cases stood at 36,633.
These two types of cancer became the most frequent causes of death in Indonesian women.
"The two also became catastrophic diseases (that necessitated lengthy medical treatments at expensive costs), with the second-highest treatment cost estimated to be around three and a half trillion," she remarked.
The Globocan data also stated that leukemia became the type of cancer to most frequently attack children. Some 11 thousand new cancer cases are estimated to occur in children aged up to 19 years in Indonesia.
"These cancer cases can actually be handled from the beginning. It was estimated that around 30 to 50 percent of cancer cases can still be prevented by avoiding risk factors and conducting routine early detection," she remarked.
Given the prevalence of cancer cases in Indonesia, the role of all sectors should be strengthened to continue to promote the adage "preventing is better than treating," Susanti said.
She expects all parties to contribute to narrowing the gap in the provision of health services to cancer patients while concurrently improving the public's knowledge on cancer that focuses on early detection.
Susanti also highlighted that synergy and collaboration with various parties, such as the private sector, had already been conducted, though it still had to be intensified.
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Translator: Hreeloita D S, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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