Banyuwangi –
Banyuwangi Regency Government continues to make efforts to suppress the spread COVID-19. One of them is by paying special attention to health in vulnerable groups, namely the elderly and people with comorbid diseases.
Head of Banyuwangi Health Office, dr. Widji Lestariono explained that one of the ways of handling COVID, especially reducing the death rate due to COVID-19, Banyuwangi will collect data on the old age group and residents who have congenital diseases. In Banyuwangi, around 83 percent of the deaths due to COVID-19 are people with comorbid diseases and elderly people.
“Some of the congenital diseases that are often encountered in cases of death of COVID-19 positive patients are hypertension, diabetes, kidney, heart and so on. Therefore, we urge to be aware of transmission to vulnerable groups consisting of the elderly and sufferers of congenital diseases,” he said. Rio, Widji Lestariono’s nickname to detikcom, Thursday (5/11/2020).
To reduce risks to the elderly, the district government will collect data by involving sub-district and village officials, as well as health center officers.
“The village head and the sub-district head will record who are residents who are over 50 years old and who have congenital diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer, and kidney failure. From that data, the puskesmas will treat them later,” said Rio.
Another effort to reduce the risk of death in the rent group is by reactivating the program posbindu-PTM (Integrated Non-Communicable Diseases Assistance Post) which was not operational during the pandemic. Posbindu this time will focus on handling old age and those with congenital diseases.
“Now the Posbindu-PTM is reactivated with a number of modifications. Previously, Posbindu-PTM was only for health monitoring. But now, we also direct the Posbindu for disease management. So that residents are not only examined, but also immediately given free treatment,” said Rio.
In Posbindu-PTM, residents are usually asked to test blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and others. Residents who have health problems will receive a referral for treatment at the puskesmas.
“Especially during this pandemic, Posbindu-PTM immediately provides treatment as a disease control measure that can increase the risk of death when contracting COVID-19,” he concluded.
(iwd / iwd)
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