"It will be divided into segments. There is screening for children, adults, pregnant women, and the elderly," Harbuwono informed after attending the launch of the White Paper on Thyroid here on Tuesday.
For instance, he said, the screening for adults will include checks for cancer.
The free health screening is one of the Quick Win programs of the Prabowo-Gibran government, he added.
According to the deputy minister, health screening is essential as patients will spend more money on treatment if they are diagnosed too late.
Meanwhile, if diseases are detected early, the expenditure on treatment can be lower.
Harbuwono said that thyroid disease will also be included in the free health screening program, considering that the national health insurance (JKN) claims for thyroid disease are quite high and reached Rp750 billion, or around USD47.6 million, in 2023.
Hence, the free health screening program is an important measure to allow people to access disease detection services early.
For thyroid screening, he said that the Ministry of Health has prepared a simple laboratory to check for thyroid function normality as well as provided ultrasound devices to screen for abnormalities such as lumps.
"All local health centers (puskesmas) have the ultrasound device to check the thyroid, and (the device) is spread in almost all hospital laboratories in Indonesia," he informed.
As reported earlier, the Ministry of Health is planning to broadcast notifications on a massive scale to remind the public about the importance of health screening as part of educational and preventive steps for maintaining health.
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Translator: Rizka K, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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