Warga Indonesia Paling Banyak Berobat ke Singapura

Singapura – Medical tourism (wisata berobat) kini seperti menjadi gaya hidup tersendiri bagi kalangan menengah ke atas. Tak heran jumlah kunjungan wisatawan medis asing ke Singapura selalu melonjak setiap tahunnya, termasuk Indonesia yang berkontribusi besar terhadap peningkatan tersebut.

Menurut laporan dari The Straits Times, jumlah pasien asing yang mencari perawatan medis terus mengalami kenaikan signifikan pasca krisis ekonomi global pada 2008.

Saat ini lima negara Asia tercatat sebagai penyumbang wisatawan medis teratas yang menyambangi Singapura, bahkan mengalahkan Amerika dan Inggris. Hal ini menunjukkan bila negeri Singa itu masih menjadi salah satu tujuan favorit medical tourism dunia.

Berdasarkan data statistik dari Departemen Kesehatan Singapura dan Singapore Tourism Board seperti dilansir dari TTG Asia, Selasa (19/2/2013), total wisatawan medis ke Singapura menembus 35.959 pengunjung pada 2011.

Anggaran yang dihabiskan untuk melakukan medical tourism hampir satu miliar dolar Singapura atau setara dengan US$ 806,90 miliar atau naik dibanding dua tahun sebelumnya.

Dari jumlah wisatawan itu, Indonesia menyumbang 47,2%, disusul Malaysia 11,5%, Bangladesh sebesar 5%. Kemudian Vietnam 4,1% serta 2,7% merupakan warga Myanmar.

“Mayoritas dari wisatawan medis memilih perawatan kesehatan di rumah sakit swasta karena prosedur lebih mudah dan murah sebagai warga asing yang memang tidak mendapat subsidi dari pemerintah Singapura,” kata The Strait News. Selain itu, sebagian besar wisatawan datang untuk melakukan bedah umum.

Sementara seorang ahli kesehatan setempat mengatakan, warga Amerika Serikat dan Inggris justru lebih memilih Singapura untuk mendapatkan pelayanan medis dengan harga terjangkau. Dan kini, Thailand, Malaysia serta India berlomba ikut memasang tarif kompetitif demi menjaring wisatawan medis. (Fik/Ndw)

(sumber: bisnis.liputan6.com)

Row over Indonesia new-born ‘denied treatment’

An Indonesian health official has acknowledged a shortage of intensive care units for babies, after the case of a new-born shocked the nation.

Five-day-old Dera Nur Anggraini died on Saturday due to breathing difficulties.

Her father said she was refused treatment by at least eight public and private hospitals.

Dien Emawati, head of Jakarta’s public health office, said some of the hospitals had no neo-natal intensive care units or had been full.

The case of baby Dera has turned into a national media frenzy, with newspapers and television channels following it relentlessly, says the BBC’s Karishma Vaswani in Jakarta.

She was born with a throat deformity and her family said all attempts to get her admitted to a bigger hospital for treatment failed.

Her father has also been quoted as saying that he could not afford to pay the fees requested at one private hospital.

Dera’s twin sister, Dara, is reportedly being treated at a hospital in Jakarta, with her condition is improving.

Ms Emawati acknowledged that there was a shortage of facilities for new-borns requiring intensive care in the capital.

She said there are only 143 neo-natal ICU units in government and private hospitals in Jakarta, a city with a population of 10 million people.

In 2011, Indonesia passed an ambitious healthcare law pledging to provide health insurance to all of the country’s 240 million citizens from January 2014, our correspondent adds.

But critics have questioned the sense of such a law when current healthcare facilities are already heavily over-burdened and under-resourced.

(source: www.bbc.co.uk)

Pemerintah Tidak Serius Implementasikan UU Rumah Sakit

Sekali lagi publik terenyuh menyaksikan berita bayi bernama Dera yang memerlukan perawatan namun ditolak Rumah Sakit karena tidak dapat punya biaya. Padahal berbagai program, seperti Jamkemas dan Jakarta Sehat, dapat dimanfaatkan untuk keperluan tersebut.

Menurut anggota Komisi IX Poempida Hidayatullah, jika memang masih terjadi praktek penolakan seperti ini, berarti Pemerintah tidak serius dalam mengimplementasikan UU Rumah Sakit.

“Masalah serupa ini pun kian ramai seiring persiapan implementasi BPJS di awal tahun 2014 mendatang,” sambung Poempida yang politisi Golkar ini kepada LICOM, pagi ini, Senin (18/2/2013).

Masalah kesehatan adalah masalah yang absolut. Tidak boleh dilaksanakan berdasarkan situasi yang mengambang. Hal ini karena berhubungan dengan jiwa dan raga manusia yang harus diperlakukan dengan perhatian penuh dan menggunakan segala kehati-hatian.

“Empati kemanusiaan pun harus menjadi pondasi dari basis sosial program kesehatan ini. Jika permasalahan ini terus berlanjut, berarti memang tidak ada keseriusan dari pihak pemerintah dalam mengimplementasikan UU Rumah Sakit ini,” tambahnya.

Oleh karena itu, interpelasi DPR adalah langkah yang diperlukan untuk memberikan peringatan kepada Pemerintah, dalam hal ini Kemenkes, akan pentingnya implementasi UU Rumah Sakit yang tidak diindahkan secara serius oleh Pemerintah.

“Tanpa implementasi UU Rumah Sakit ini, saya sangat sulit melihat kesuksesan dalam penerapan BPJS di tahun 2014 mendatang,” demikian Poempida. @ari

(sumber: www.lensaindonesia.com)

WHO advocates vigilance regarding SARS-like virus; global figure at 12

GENEVA–The World Health Organization on Saturday urged countries to be vigilant over the spread of a potentially fatal SARS-like virus after a new case in Britain brought the global number to 12.

“Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns,” the United Nations health agency said in a statement.

On Friday, British health authorities said that a third member of a family had been diagnosed with so-called novel coronavirus, but was not in danger.

“Although this new case offers further indications of person-to-person transmission, no sustained person-to-person transmission has been identified,” said the WHO.

“Testing for the new coronavirus should be considered in patients with unexplained pneumonias, or in patients with unexplained severe, progressive or complicated respiratory illness not responding to treatment,” it added.

Clusters of cases, and cases among health workers, should be thoroughly investigated wherever they occur, it underlined.

Britain’s Health Protection Agency said the latest person to contract the virus was a relative of two other cases announced earlier this week.

The first member of the family, who was confirmed on Monday as having the virus, had recently traveled to the Middle East and Pakistan. The two relatives had no recent travel history.

A total of 12 cases have been reported to the WHO, with five of them fatal — three in Saudi Arabia and two in Jordan.

Coronaviruses are to blame for most common colds but can also cause SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

A SARS epidemic killed more than 800 people when it swept out of China in 2003, sparking a major international health scare.

(source: www.chinapost.com.tw)

Sekitar 70 Persen Masyarakat Sakit Gigi dan Mulut

Wonosobo – Sebanyak 70 persen lebih masyarakat Indonesia menderita penyakit gigi dan mulut. Sayangnya, penyakit gigi dan mulut belum menjadi prioritas masalah di Indonesia.

Ketua Persatuan Dokter Gigi Indonesia Kabupaten Wonosobo, Jawa Tengah, Rina Soesetyowati, Minggu (17/2/2013) mengatakan, angka itu diperoleh berdasarkan penelitian riset kesehatan dasar dan kenyataan di lapangan. “Uniknya, penyakit ini bukan hanya membicarakan angka kesakitan semata, namun juga berbicara estetika penampilan wajah,” katanya.

Rina mengatakan, saat ini estetika penampilan wajah menjadi tuntutan masyarakat dan dunia kerja. Artinya, persoalan penyakit gigi dan mulut menjadi awal berkurangnya daya saing tenaga kerja.

Selain itu, kebutuhan masyarakat akan pentingnya penampilan ini dimanfaatkan oleh pihak yang tidak bertanggung jawab. Di antaranya , bermunculan oknum yang tidak berijazah dokter gigi namun mengaku bisa memasang kawat gigi. Hal ini merupakan bentuk praktik yang bisa membahayakan masyarakat.

“Diharapkan bila masyarakat mendapat pelayanan kesehatan gigi dan mulut dengan benar, maka tidak hanya terhindar dari penyakit gigi dan mulut, namun juga mampu menjaga penampilan wajahnya sehingga tidak rendah diri dan mudah mencari kerja,” katanya.

(sumber: regional.kompas.com)

WHO to check novel virus locations outside UK

MANILA – The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a directive on Sunday for all health officials to find out if the novel coronavirus (NCoV) is spreading in countries aside from the United Kingdom (UK), where early cases have been reported.

It also advised countries to continue their surveillance efforts for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI).

“Testing for the new coronavirus should be considered in patients with unexplained pneumonias, or in patients with unexplained severe, progressive or complicated respiratory illness not responding to treatment,” said the WHO.

The WHO added that new cases and clusters of the NCoV should be reported promptly to health authorities and them.

“Any clusters of SARI or SARI in healthcare workers should be thoroughly investigated, regardless of where in the world they occur,” it said.

Last Wednesday, the UK government confirmed its first human to human transmission of the SARS-like virus.

The patient is believed to have caught the infection from a close family relative, who had travelled to the Middle East.

However, the WHO said it is not advising its member-states to issue a travel advisory since the confirmed victims in UK have no recent travel outside the country.

“WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied,” said the WHO.

As of Saturday, the World Health Organization has recorded 12 cases of human infection with NCoV, including five deaths. (HDT/Sunnex)

(source: www.sunstar.com.ph)

Harga Obat Berpotensi Naik

Semarang – Melemahnya nilai tukar rupiah terhadap dolar mulai memukul industri farmasi yang 90% bahan bakunya diimpor dari luar negeri. Hal itu menyebabkan, sejumlah produsen obat-obatan dipastikan akan menaikkan harga jual produknya pada tahun ini.

“Saat rupiah kian melemah, biaya impor pun bertambah. Hal ini berpotensi akan terjadi kenaikan harga obat di tahun ini,” ungkap Djakfarudin Junus, Direktur Utama PT Indofarma Tbk, Kamis (14/2).

Ia menuturkan, komponen harga obat antara lain bahan baku, biaya pengolahan, biaya kemasan, biaya distribusi, biaya pemasaran serta biaya administrasi. Sementara biaya bahan baku menyumbang sekitar 25%-30% dari beban keseluruhan. Selama ini industri farmasi memperoleh 90% bahan baku impor. Pasokan bahan baku impor terbanyak dari China hingga 75%. Disusul India 20% dan sisanya negara Eropa.

“Namun kami masih belum bisa memproyeksikan berapa besar kenaikan harga obat pada tahun ini. Sebab tergantung strategi bisnis setiap perusahaan. Biasanya, sebelum menaikkan harga jual perusahaan masih mempunyai pilihan lain. Apalagi jika daya beli konsumen rendah,” paparnya.

Sementara itu, Direktur Keuangan PT Kalbe Farma Tbk Vidjongtius menilai, pelemahan rupiah tak serta merta mengerek naik harga obat. Meski 90% bahan baku farmasi impor, sejauh ini pelemahan rupiah belum membuat harga bahan baku naik tajam.

Apalagi, impor bahan baku memakai management stock. Tapi ia tak menyangkal perusahaan farmasinya punya opsi menaikkan harga obat jika rupiah terus melemah lebih dari empat bulan. “Jika harga obat tidak naik, perusahaan lebih memilih efisiensi bahan baku dan SDM sampai mengurangi margin keuntungan,” ujarnya.

Ketua Umum GP Farmasi Jateng, Dr Koesbintoro Singgih mengatakan, pengusaha farmasi banyak mendapatkan tantangan. Utamanya menghadapi praktik Sistem Jaminan Sosial Nasional (SJSN) 2014 dan Asean Charter 2015. Pemerintah telah mengeluarkan UU Nomor 40/2004 tentang SJSN.

Berdasarkan UU itu telah dibentuk pula UU Nomor 24/2011 tentang Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial (BPJS). SJSN di bidang kesehatan itu akan diberlakukan secara nasional mulai 1Januari 2014. Transformasi tersebut dinilai sebagai peluang sekaligus tantangan bagi perkembangan industri farmasi.

“Praktik SJSN nantinya ikut pula mengerek besarnya anggaran pengeluaran kesehatan dari 2% menjadi 5% dari Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Maka, anggaran untuk kesehatan dan obat akan meningkat drastis,” katanya.

(sumber: www.suaramerdeka.com)

US experts get tough on fake medicines

HEALTH experts are urging the United States and other countries to boost their ability to identify fake or subpar medicines and close loopholes that allow products to be falsified or diluted.

In an international system in which different companies in many countries make ingredients for single treatments, no country alone can effectively enforce quality control on drugs that can be the fine line between life and death, stressed a report by the independent Institute of Medicine (IOM).

“Falsified and substandard medicines are a grave public health problem because they are ineffective, promote drug resistance, and even cause severe illness and death, particularly in developing countries where they regularly flood the market,” said Lawrence Gostin, health law expert at Georgetown University Law Center who led the group of 12 experts who did the study.

“We’re calling on WHO, in collaboration with regulators, companies, and civil society worldwide, to adopt a global code of practice, build national regulatory capabilities, and promote international cooperation,” Gostin said.

Fake versions of the cancer drug Avastin were given to US patients in 2011 and 2012, for example, but similar problems occur even more frequently in poor countries, the committee found. Avastatin is made by Switzerland’s Roche.

“Given the international nature of modern manufacturing and trade, every nation has a stake and a role to play in ensuring the production and sale of high-quality medications,” said Gostin, who is director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights.

Counterfeit and substandard medications with little or no active ingredients can hasten drug resistance, do not treat disease, and boost health care costs. In addition, products that contain dangerous ingredients have sickened and killed people around the world, the report explains.

It urges the WHO to increase its cooperation with regulators worldwide.

“What we’re seeing in the United States – and doubly so in developing countries – is a race to the bottom,” Gostin said. “Unscrupulous drug suppliers seek the state or country with the weakest regulatory and law enforcement standards. We need to encourage a status competition for the finest regulatory oversight.”

So the report urges a mandatory drug tracking system.

US “agreement on a federally mandated tracking system has been slowed by costs associated with changing drugs’ primary packaging and labels as well as wholesale repackaging, the report found. “Without a national system, however, companies face the burden of meeting competing state demands. For example, California will require unique serial numbers on bottles and vials by 2015,” it said.

The report also urges adoption of the terms “substandard” and “falsified” to refer to products that pose a public health risk, asking parties to refrain from using the term “counterfeit” except in trademark infringement cases.

“Consistent use of terms would improve nations’ abilities to document the extent of the problem, determine causes, and discuss possible solutions,” it added.

(source: www.theaustralian.com.au)

Masih Ada 88 Juta Orang Indonesia yang Belum Terlindungi BPJS

Baru 63 persen dari total penduduk Indonesia yang terlindungi BPJS.

Jakarta – Dewan Sistem Jaminan Sosial Nasional (DJSN) menyatakan, saat ini jumlah peserta yang akan mengikuti program Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial (BPJS) Kesehatan adalah 151 juta jiwa atau 63% dari total jumlah penduduk Indonesia yang pada tahun 2012 tercatat sebesar 239 juta jiwa.

Anggota DJSN Timoer Sutanto mengatakan, masih ada 88 juta jiwa yang masih belum terlindungi program BPJS Kesehatan meski program ini mulai berlaku pada 1 Januari 2014.

Dipaparkan Timoer, dari data yang diterima DJSN, peserta BPJS Kesehatan yang sudah terdaftar adalah Askes Pegawai Negeri Sipil (PNS)/Pensiunan TNI/POLRI sebanyak 17,3 juta, Asabri 2,2 juta, Jamkesmas 76,4 juta, Jamsostek 5,6 juta, Jamkesda 31,8 juta, Asuransi Komersial 2,9 juta, dan Self Insured 15,4 juta.

“Banyak hal yang masih menjadi hambatan terkait data kepesertaan ini, terutama pekerja sektor informal yang masih belum terdeteksi, kami memperkirakan sisa pekerja informal yang masih belum ter-cover sekitar 31 juta jiwa,” ujar dia saat ditemui dalam acara Diskusi Kadin tentang Penerapan Sistem Jaminan Sosial di Menara Kadin, Jakarta, Rabu (13/2).

Timoer mengatakan, permasalahan yang terjadi adalah pekerja informal itu jumlahnya tersebar ke seluruh daerah, serta tempat mereka bekerja masih belum terdaftar di beberapa kelembagaan sehingga menyulitkan untuk diperoleh datanya.

“DJSN akan terus bekerja sama dengan pemerintah daerah untuk memperoleh data akurat terkait pekerja informal ini dan sebelum tahun 2014,” ungkap dia

Ditambahkan Timoer, selain akan terus meningkatkan jumlah kepesertaan BPJS kesehatan, DJSN bekerja sama dengan Kementerian Kesehatan juga akan bertekad untuk memperbaiki kualitas pelayanan kesehatan. Dia mengatakan saat ini dari data yang diperoleh dari Kementerian Kesehatan, jumlah tempat tidur yang tersedia di rumah sakit berjumlah 120 ribu, pada tahun 2014 jumlah tempat tidur akan ditambah menjadi 240 ribu, jumlah dokter akan ditingkatkan dari 60 ribu tahun ini, menjadi 200 ribu pada tahun 2014. Menurut dia, program penambahan dokter ini Kemenkes telah bekerja sama dengan 62 fakultas kedokteran di seluruh Indonesia untuk menciptakan dokter dokter berkualitas.

“Kami harap para tenaga medis mau ditempatkan di luar Jawa maupun di daerah pelosok, kalau mereka tidak mau, kita akan pikirkan bagaimana caranya yang jelas gajinya dinaikan pasti mereka berminat,” tambah Timoer.

(sumber: www.beritasatu.com)

 

World leaders must ‘take tobacco much more seriously’ to achieve development goals

In order to cut premature death rates, the world’s politicians need to focus on “simple measures” like anti-tobacco policies, cutting salt levels in food, and improving access to affordable heart disease drugs, according to experts writing in The Lancet today.

The report focuses on preventing ‘non-communicable’ diseases, or NCDs – i.e. cancers, heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases, and diabetes.

Rates of these diseases – which are often linked to lifestyle – are set to soar across the developing world in coming decades.

According to recent estimates, 34.5 million people died from NCDs in 2010, representing two-thirds of the 52.8 million deaths worldwide that year.

In May 2012, the World Health Organisation (WHO) committed to reducing preventable NCD deaths by 25 per cent by 2025.

But in order to make this reality urgent action is needed, the panel of international experts said.

The key is to regard health not as a “goal” of development, but “an instrument to bring it about,” according to Sir George Alleyne, Emeritus Director of the Pan American Health Organization and contributor to the report.

“Any realistic attempt to make human development sustainable must take NCDs into account.”

That means regulating the marketing of tobacco, alcohol, and ‘ultra-processed’ food and drinks, said Professor Rob Moodie from the University of Melbourne.

“These companies say they’re part of the solution, but the evidence says otherwise. They should have no role in formulating health policy. Put it this way – you wouldn’t let a burglar change your locks,” he added.

According to the report, there is growing evidence that multinational food, drink and alcohol manufacturers are adopting similar strategies to tobacco industry to undermine public health policies. They should thus be similarly regulated, argue the authors.

Tobacco is the most important preventable cause of cancer, but the disease is also linked to obesity, high alcohol consumption and poor diet.

Policymakers also need to focus on equal access to healthcare, including vaccines and drugs – particularly cheaper generic drugs which could “prevent or treat most NCDs”.

Hazel Nunn, Cancer Research UK’s head of evidence and information, welcomed the report.

“Cancer is often seen as a disease of the richer world, but just over half of the 12.7 million people diagnosed every year live in less developed countries, and this proportion is rising fast,” she said.

“This new report is an important and timely reminder to keep non-communicable diseases high on the global political agenda. Just like the other major NCDs, cancer is a social and economic issue as well as a health issue, and requires strong and joined-up action.”

“The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has given policymakers much-needed guidance in setting national anti-tobacco agendas. This new report suggests that the time may be right to mirror this approach in other areas, particularly alcohol and ‘ultra-processed’ food and drinks,” she added.

(source: www.cancerresearchuk.org)