Merck Facilitates Free Tiroid Screening To Increase Public Awareness

Photo: Doc. Merck

JAKARTA - As an effort to increase public awareness about the importance of screening thyroid disorders, PT Merck Tbk collaborates with Dr. National Central General Hospital. Cipto Mangunkusumo (RSCM) and Jakarta branch InaTA conducted talk show Get to Know Your Tiroid (KITA) and screening for free thyroid disorders at RSCM Kencana, in Jakarta, Tuesday, October 3.

This activity, which is part of the RAISE Tiroid Program, is carried out to socialize thyroid disorders, especially for high-risk adult populations. Since starting in May 2023, the RAISE Tiroid program has conducted training to more than 2,600 health practitioners and provided thyroid disorders examinations for more than 19,200 patients in 59 cities, 12 provinces.

thyroid disorders are a medical condition where the thyroid hormone produced by our body's thyroid gland does not match normal conditions or body needs. In fact, the thyroid gland is an important gland in the human body that plays a role in regulating metabolism and body health. thyroid hormone is needed to help the body use energy to keep the body warm, and to keep the brain, heart, muscles and other organs working properly.

But unfortunately, the problem of thyroid disorders is still often neglected. It is estimated that around 200 million people worldwide have thyroid disorders and more than 50 percent of people with thyroid disorders are not diagnosed.

In Indonesia, based on data in 2022, the number of people with hypothyroids is estimated to reach 12.4 million people with an estimated treatment rate of very low at 1.9 percent. Meanwhile, the number of people with hyperthyroids is estimated to reach 13.2 million with an estimated handling rate of very low, only 6.2 percent.

The Director General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. dr. Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, DHSM., MARS appreciates the efforts made by Merck through free screening activities to increase the basicity of the community towards thyroid disorders. thyroid disorders are important to note because if they are not detected immediately and get the right treatment, it will cause hyperthyroidism or hypotiroism conditions that can have a serious impact on all age groups.

For this reason, the Ministry of Health is committed to continuing to increase public awareness about the importance of early detection and diagnosis of thyroid disorders in high-risk adult populations, conducting Kongenital Hydroroid Screening (SHK) in newborns, and ensuring effective treatment for hyperthyroids and hypothyroids in Indonesia.

"It is also important to know that thyroid disorders are one of the diseases that can be passed down. Therefore, we really welcome Merck's initiative, which is in line with the government's efforts to increase the examination of thyroid disorders in Indonesia," said dr. Maxi, in a written statement.

Chairman of the Greater Jakarta Branch of the Indonesian Thyroid Association (InaTA Jaya), dr. Dicky L. Stageary, Sp.PD-KEMD, Ph.D., FINASIM said the importance of collaboration in various sectors in joint efforts to overcome screening challenges (early detection) and the management of thyroid disorders in Indonesia.

"We also in InaTA continue to urge the public to be aware of the risk of thyroid disorders and not to be afraid to carry out screening, especially in high-risk adult populations. Because, if it is not diagnosed and treated early on, it can cause serious health problems, it can even cause thyroid and health disorders to children. Therefore, through your talk show initiative Kenali Tiroid (KITA) and the free thyroid screening organized by Merck and RSCM, it is hoped that more and more general people will be educated and have concern for thyroid disorders," he explained.,

"So, efforts to prevent and manage thyroid disorders in Indonesia can be more optimal in the future. From the medical personnel side, InaTA encourages the collaboration of doctors from various sciences to improve the quality of screening and management of thyroid disorders," he added.

Director of Medical and Nursing at the National Central General Hospital Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo (RSCM), dr. Ir. Renan Sukmawan, Sp.JP(K), PhD, MARS., also positively welcomed the collaboration with Merck in organizing free thyroid screening.

"The free screening that we are doing with Merck is one of the efforts to find out someone has the risk of thyroid disorders. This is important to do, because if you have the risk of thyroid disorders, you must immediately get the right treatment so that it does not have a serious impact on health. For this reason, in order to provide access for the community or patients with thyroid disorders, RSCM Kencana also has Integrated Tiroid Clusters where there are complete facilities and equipment, as well as supported by doctors from various multidisciplinary groups who collaborate to be able to treat patients with thyroid disorders," explained dr. Sumariyono.

Head of China & International Healthcare, Merck KGaA, Hong Chow said, his party realizes that the big challenge faced today is the low public awareness of thyroid disorders, even among doctors. This is because the condition of thyroid disorders has varied symptoms and is often misinterpreted as another disease.

"For this reason, as a partner for health workers, Merck has implemented the RAISE Tiroid Program in order to raise awareness of this disease over the past few years. This is important because it sees the need for education and increased the capability of doctors as the front line that provides direct health services to the public to be able to increase screening and diagnosis of thyroid disorders in high-risk adult populations and newborns in Indonesia," he explained.

As part of Merck Global's commitment, the RAISE Tiroid Program is targeted to reach around 52,000 health workers and carry out screening on 3 million high-risk adult populations in 7,000 health facilities.

Screening is done, including the provision of free TSH tests which are part of the Merck donation program to IDI as the executor of testing. Thus, it is hoped that by 2030 the therapy for handling hypothyroids can increase to 11 percent from the previous 1.9 percent in 2022 and hypertiroids to 15% from the previous 6.2 percent in 2022.

In the first 3 months of its implementation starting in May 2023, the RAISE thyroid program has trained more than 2,600 health practitioners. The program has provided examinations of thyroid disorders for more than 19,200 patients in 59 cities, 12 provinces, using Wayne's index for hyperthyroids and the Bilewicz index for hypothyroids. In addition, more than 2,000 people in 18 cities have undergone tests of the Tiroid Trigger Hormone (Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone/TSH).

"From the results of the examination that has been carried out, 21 percent of participants have been detected to have thyroid disorders. We hope these results can encourage participants with the risk of thyroid disorders to immediately get proper treatment," said Hong.

Since 2014, Merck has collaborated with the Ministry of Health and various health associations to raise awareness of thyroid disorders in Indonesia, provide training for doctors to do the right diagnosis, and support the implementation of congenital hypothyroid screening that is required by the government.

The RAISE thyroid program is part of a long-term commitment between Merck and the Ministry of Health as well as various health associations, including the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), InaTA, and the Pita Tosca patient community to support and play an active role in efforts to control and deal with thyroid disorders in Indonesia.