Affordable medical treatment sought for lupus patients

Yuli Tri Suwarni ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Bandung   |  Tue, 05/13/2008 10:39 AM  |  The Archipelago

The government has been urged to provide affordable medical services for nearly 3,000 people in Bandung believed to have lupus, a disease that affects the immune system.

Ahyani Raksnagara of the Bandung Health Office in West Java said out of the 3,000 patients, 700 had been officially diagnosed with the disease.

"About 93 percent of the diagnosed patients are women aged between 14 and 35," Ahyani said on the sidelines of the commemoration of World Lupus Day at the Bandung Institute of Technology on Saturday.

The event was sponsored by Syamsi Dhuha Foundation, which provides counseling for lupus patients in Bandung.

Ahyani said the grematology room at Hasan Sadikin Hospital was the only lupus treatment center in Bandung, and opened only on Fridays.

She said lupus patients were forced to buy expensive medicines because of the lack of effective and affordable medicines.

Dian Syarief, chairwoman of the Syamsi Dhuha Foundation, said lupus affects the immune system, which subsequently leaves those infected at risk of other diseases.

Patients need moral support from both family and community, said Dian.

The immune system works by producing antibodies to fight germs and infections, but in a person with lupus the immune system goes into overdrive and doesn't differentiate between the body's normal, healthy cells and germs that can cause infection.

The number of people with lupus is expected to reach five million worldwide, with another 100,000 cases per year, Dian said.

"Even higher income patients feel the burden of the expensive medical treatments," said Dian, who contracted the disease nine years ago and underwent hospital treatments 18 times.

Lupus patients often complain of spending Rp 2 million (US$220) to Rp 6 million per month on medication, she said.

"Besides the expensive medicines, patients also have to get regular medical check-ups," said Dian.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, also called SLE, is the type of lupus most people refer to when talking about the disease.

SLE is the most serious form of lupus. About 15 percent SLE patients first start to feel sick in their teens. SLE can affect the skin, joints and tendons. It can also affect organs like the brain, heart, lungs and kidneys.

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