KONTAN.CO.ID – JAKARTA. There is good news that the Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, conveyed for Indonesian women. Namely, routine immunization programs, especially cervical cancer vaccines or Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) are provided free of charge starting this year.
“Free, financed by the state, (starting) this year,” said Budi at the Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan, Jakarta, Tuesday (19/4/2022).
Budi said this was done as a preventive and promotive government action in implementing basic health needs.
He also said that vaccination is more about preventing the disease from getting worse, not curing it.
“Like Covid-19, if we get sick it costs tens of millions to go to the hospital, but if we prevent it from wearing masks, taking vitamins is much cheaper, so vaccination is to prevent, not treat sick people,” he said.
Also Read: WHO: 1 Dose of HPV Vaccine Provides Strong Protection from Viruses That Cause Cervical Cancer
Previously, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) would increase the number of routine immunizations to 14 types of vaccines from the previous 11.
The Minister of Health explained that the addition of vaccine types in routine immunization is part of efforts to improve promotive and preventive services in the application of Basic Health Needs (KDK).
One of the vaccines that will be included in the routine immunization program is the cervical cancer vaccine or Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
“We will oblige cervical cancer vaccination, to prevent cancer at the end. So it is better for us to do prevention so that we can live more productively,” said Budi during a working meeting with Commission IX of the DPR RI, Tuesday (25/1/2022).
Also Read: Treatment of Cancer with Chemotherapy, What is it?
Budi explained that one of the reasons for including HPV immunization in the list of routine immunization programs is because cervical cancer is one of the most common diseases that cause Indonesian women to die.
He also said that by taking these promotive and preventive actions, state spending would also become more efficient.
“Because giving anti-cervical cancer vaccination is cheaper than treating mothers or women who have had cervical cancer later after the stages are advanced,” said Budi.
In addition to cervical cancer immunization, the Ministry of Health will also add Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) immunization to prevent pneumonia and Rotavirus to prevent diarrhea. The reason is, these two diseases are very susceptible to infecting infants under the age of 2 years.
“If you get an infection, all the intake from this baby will switch to be used by the body to ward off infection, so it’s possible to get stunted, and if you get stunted, we know that the IQ of children can drop by 20 percent,” said Budi.
This article has been published on Kompas.com with the title “Minister of Health: Free Cervical Cancer Vaccination Starting this Year “
Author : Haryanti Puspa Sari
Editor: Krisiandi
Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie
– –
–
