"Internists can play a big role in reducing PTM cases because of their broad diagnostic coverage," Hartono explained while opening the "2023 Jakarta Internal Medicine in Daily Practice (JIM DACE) Scientific Seminar" in Jakarta on Saturday.
According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect health services in Indonesia. It has impeded the handling of infectious diseases and triggered an increase in PTM cases every year.
He then asked doctors to continue to follow developments in medical sciences and technology and also update their diagnostic approach based on the symptoms experienced by patients.
He said that Jakarta is in the middle of transforming from a capital city to a global city and Indonesia's economic center.
In the health sector, Jakarta has continued to improve as a center for health service tourism as well, he added.
"Health services must be able to increase the trust of Jakarta citizens who used to seek treatment abroad," he emphasized.
Meanwhile, the ratio of specialist doctors in Jakarta has met the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), he noted.
According to Hartono, improving health service quality in accordance with international standards in the capital city will require joint work from related parties.
He then lauded the Greater Jakarta Branch of the Association of Indonesian Internists (PAPDI JAYA) for their commitment and consistency in efforts to improve the quality of health services in Indonesia, and Jakarta in particular.
"Hopefully, it can continue to increase the knowledge, competitiveness, and productivity of internists in order to realize international standard health services in Jakarta," he said.
Furthermore, he informed that data has pointed to PTMs as the leading cause of death since 2016. They are responsible for 73 percent of deaths in Indonesia, with cardiovascular diseases accounting for 35 percent of deaths, cancer 12 percent, chronic respiratory disease 6 percent, and diabetes 6 percent, with the risk of premature death at more than 20 percent.
Meanwhile, when Statistics Indonesia (BPS) compiled the number of deaths by cause for the period from January 1, 2017, to 2020–2022, it recorded 7.03 million deaths due to PTMs out of a total of 8.07 million deaths.
Meanwhile, other causes of death were illness due to infectious diseases (231 thousand cases) and traffic accidents (131 thousand cases).
The next causes of death were non-traffic accidents or other accidents (95 thousand cases), followed by poisoning (13 thousand cases) and other causes (565 thousand cases).
Translator: Mentari Dwi G, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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