|
|
|
PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVES |
|
|
Knowledge is Key to
Healthy Population |
|
 |
|
Awareness campaigns are critical to public health
program success |
Mimika is one of the
fastest-growing regencies in all of Indonesia. The
area that only three decades ago supported a few
thousand individuals in scattered, isolated villages
is now home to more than 200,000. New residents
arrive daily in search of employment and
opportunity. As a result of the rapid growth,
fighting diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and
sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS
has become more complex.
A critical first line of defense against these
diseases is public awareness of the problem,
including education about prevention and treatment
alternatives. PT Freeport Indonesia, through its
Public Health and Malaria Control Department, has
teamed up with the local government and the Health
Bureau of the Amungme and Kamoro Community
Development Organization (LPMAK) to educate the
growing public on burgeoning public health issues.
The Public Health Malaria Control Department
outreach initiatives begin “at home” with Freeport
Indonesia employees and dependents. Disease
awareness and prevention are a vital part of
employee induction classes and ongoing education.
The mining company’s information systems, including
a closed-circuit cable television network, often
publicize public health messages, workshops and
advice on disease prevention.
The public program, which targets city and village
residents in the larger community, often takes the
form of high-profile public awareness activities in
schools and public places, and special events such
as the AIDS Candlelight Memorial and the recent
commemoration of World AIDS Day. Health
practitioners joined members of the general public
in a parade through the heart of the city of Timika.
It was a local version of a similar event on a much
larger scale in the nation’s capital Jakarta.
Freeport’s employee volunteer group “Freeport Cares”
participated in the national event.
Dr. Niken Widyastuti, who manages the HIV/AIDS
program for Freeport Indonesia, says “the programs
have elicited a positive response from the community
in Timika, with several churches, mosques, schools,
army groups and community organizations often
requesting additional HIV/AIDS classes.” She adds
that public events, such as the parade that was held
for World AIDS Day, serve as a catalyst to get
people into the clinics. “There is an increase in
the number of patient visits at our (Freeport-run)
sexually transmitted disease clinics and the
government clinics with regard to HIV testing,” she
says.
Other public awareness campaigns include
distribution of targeted information, clinic
programs and village programs to educate the public
about tuberculosis, avian flu, and malaria.
Technical expertise for the Public Health Malaria
Control program is provided by International SOS.
|
|
 |
|
|
World
AIDS Day Event, Timika |
| |
|
|
|
Drug Trial Offers New Hope in
Battle against Malaria |
|
Malaria kills more people in the
world today than any other disease. It remains the leading
cause of illness and death in Papua. The Freeport Public
Health team, in coordination with the Indonesian government,
has waged a long and successful battle against malaria for
more than a decade with a multi-pronged effort to thwart the
spread of the disease through controlling the mosquitoes
that carry the malaria parasite, attacking the vector where
the mosquitoes live, providing preventive medications,
testing the population and providing state-of-the-science
treatment.
As the local population grows, so do the challenges in
fighting malaria. Some of the new residents are moving from
remote regions with no natural resistance to malaria. The
local health care infrastructure struggles to keep pace with
an influx of new patients. Current drugs used to treat
malaria in Indonesia have a 70 percent incidence of
resistance development, which leads to recurrence and
re-hospitalization.
One of the latest weapons in the local battle against
malaria is showing great promise. Field trials are now
complete in the Mimika area in a major study into the
effectiveness of Duo-Cotecxin, an artemesinin combination
therapy involving a fever treatment that has been used for
centuries in China with another drug that makes it effective
in malaria treatment. It is part of a joint program
involving the Indonesian Institute of Health Research (LITBANGKES)
in cooperation with the Menzies School of Health Research of
Darwin, Australia, with Holly Pharmaceutical. The cure rate
with this new therapy is as high as 85 percent.
Dr. Pasi Penttinen, Public Health Advisor for PT Freeport
Indonesia, says “Due to the importance of malaria globally,
this is one of the highest-impact studies I have seen.
Malaria is being reduced, which is remarkable, considering
the major population growth.” He adds, “We are rolling out
this treatment in our affiliated hospitals in the region,
and working in cooperation with the government to ensure
that the private practitioners in town also have access to
this drug combination.”
The researchers are now looking into the cost efficiency of
the new treatment.
“On the surface, this treatment is more expensive,” says Dr.
Penttinen. “However, in the long run, at the societal level
you are saving a lot of money because you are also
preventing the disease and saving on the treatment side,”
Penttinen adds.
PT Freeport Indonesia participated in the program by
providing the drugs free of charge as well as supporting
with logistics, technical advice and infrastructure for the
research team.
An article on the study has been peer-reviewed and published
in the medical journal The Lancet in March 2007.
|
|
Field
trials conducted in Mimika
and supported by Freeport
Indonesia concluded the
drug Duo Cotecxin is highly effective in treating
malaria. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Back to Top |