Cancer Must Be Handled Comprehensively So As Not To Threaten Indonesia's 2045 Gold Target

Illustration - Cancer must be treated comprehensively so as not to pose a threat to Indonesia's 2045 Gold target. (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Cancer that is not handled comprehensively can be a threat to Indonesia which will reach the peak of the demographic bonus in 2045, along with Indonesia aged 100 years or referred to as Indonesia Gold 2045.

This was said by Consultant Doctor Hematology Oncology from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Dr. dr. Ikhwan Rinaldi, Sp.PD-KHOM, M. Epid, M.Pd.Ked, FINASIM, FACP, FINASIM at his inauguration ceremony as Professor of FKUI in the FKUI Hall of Jakarta on Saturday (14/10).

"Almost a third to half of cancer in Indonesia can be prevented if the public gets a good understanding of cancer risk factors and the development of cancer prevention interventions," said Ikhwan as quoted by Antara.

GLOBOCAN 2020 data predicts that there will be 19.3 million new cancer cases and nearly 10 million cancer deaths in 2020. Various studies have also shown an increase in the trend of early tweet cancer or cancer that occurs at the age of less than 50 years.

The increasing life expectancy and various risk factors related to lifestyle transitions such as smoking and diet may contribute to this increased cancer burden.

According to him, in handling cancer, there are various challenges ranging from prevention to palliative.

"Patients are often late in receiving examinations and have just come for treatment during advanced stages. Education factors that are lacking, low income, distance to health care facilities, use of complementary therapy and alternatives, and low early detection coverage of cancer are a major factor in delays in health services obtained by patients," explained Ikhwan.

The delay in cancer management has not only had an impact on the patient's quality of life, but also had an impact on health service costs, an increase in costs related to the choice of treatment in patients with advanced stages.

In addition, Ikhwan said the drugs received were no longer in the chemotherapy class, but had used new types of drugs such as target therapy and immunotherapy which required special molecular examinations (precision doctors) at many costs.

In this regard, WHO recommends that each country have a national cancer control plan that focuses on equity and access and includes aspects of prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, survival, and palliative care. This recommendation can be implemented through a cancer comprehensive center.