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AIA donates 1,500 free breast cancer screening to raise awareness in Indonesia
PT AIA Financial (AIA) initiated a program to bring awareness of breast cancer and the importance of regular breast screening for women.
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Benjamin Winoto, group commercial director Mayapada Healthcare (left); Kathryn Parapak, chief marketing officer of AIA; Tri Oetami, deputy chairperson of the Daya Dara Indonesia (Lovepink) Foundation; and Doddy Widodo, country business manager Columbia Asia Hospital (right), during the launch of PeriksAIA initiative, which provided 1,500 free mammography and breast ultrasound tests for Indonesian women.
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T AIA Financial (AIA) initiated a program to bring awareness of breast cancer and the importance of regular breast screening for women. The program is in line with AIA's support for the government's efforts to tackle breast cancer.
PeriksAIA is held in collaboration with Mayapada Hospital and Columbia Asia Hospital, and supported by Lovepink, a nonprofit organization that supports survivors and advocates for the importance of early detection. The insurance company facilitated 1,500 free mammography and ultrasound screenings to Indonesian women, especially from low-income families.
According to the Health Ministry, deaths caused by breast cancer in Indonesia amounted to more than 22,000 cases, more than any other type of cancer. It is reported that about 43 percent of deaths from cancer can be prevented by regular breast screening and by avoiding other risk factors of cancer. The Indonesia government has made breast cancer prevention one of its priorities and has been trying to raise public awareness about the disease.
“AIA as a leading and trusted life insurance company has a purpose to help millions of families in Indonesia to live healthier, longer, better lives. We materialize this purpose through continuous social action in AIA Sehat Untuk Negeri [AIA Health for the Nation]. Hence, AIA continues to promote a healthy lifestyle as a means of prevention of diseases, for example through the health & wellness platform, AIA Vitality,” explained Kathryn Parapak, chief marketing officer of AIA.
In addition to the aforementioned free 1,500 mammograms and ultrasound screenings, AIA is also incentivizing AIA Vitality’s members to get a screening by rewarding them with 2,000 AIA Vitality points. The program is held in October, as it is known as Breast Cancer Awareness month. The government has set three main pillars for the national breast cancer prevention strategy: health promotion, early detection and case management.
The Health Ministry reported that the number of new cases of breast cancer amounted to 68,858 out of a total of 396,914 new cases of cancer in Indonesia. It accounted for 16.6 percent of all new cancer cases in Indonesia. The ministry also found that delayed treatments would result in a financing burden to the government’s budget, as most cases appeared to be detected in the later stages with a bigger risk of death.
“As a health-sector player, Mayapada Hospital understands the importance of screening in determining further action on a patient, to prevent a disease from getting worse. Early screening affects the future of patients. Therefore, Mayapada Hospital welcomes, supports and is open to partner with AIA in carrying out the PeriksAIA initiative, so Indonesian women can be more aware of the threat of breast cancer," said Benjamin Winoto, group commercial director of Mayapada Healthcare. The statement is echoed by AIA’s other partner, Columbia Asia Hospital.
“We appreciate AIA's initiative to collaborate in providing free breast screening as a preventive measure in tackling breast cancer. This initiative also allows us to distribute our healthcare services to a wider public. We hope that this initiative can be carried out on a regular basis so that it can have a significant impact on public health,” added Doddy Widodo, country business manager of Columbia Asia Hospital.
Tri Oetami, deputy chairperson of the Daya Dara Indonesia Foundation, or Lovepink, said that the partnership with AIA is represented by sincerity and commitment to support each other, which is in line with the ethos of the organization: to create a supportive, loving and empowering community of survivors. Tri stated that the theme of this year’s Lovepink activity is Rising Up Together.
“With the participation of AIA, slowly but surely we will realize our goal of providing free breast ultrasound screening to 10,000 financially constrained women in Indonesia,” Tri said.
Five hundred mammograms and 1,000 ultrasounds are available at Mayapada Hospitals in South Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, and Surabaya, as well as at Columbia Asia Hospital in Jakarta and Medan from Oct. 31 to December.
“We hope that more parties will join hands to raise awareness of the importance of breast health, because we believe that prevention is always better than cure. So, let's join forces to raise awareness about the importance of early breast cancer prevention so that it can have a wider impact," Kathryn concluded.
