The '€œEmpowering Women in Cervical Cancer Prevention'€ program, which began in November last year, is currently operating in three areas of Jakarta '€” East Jakarta, North Jakarta and South Jakarta '€” as well as in the western Bekasi area where several YKB clinics are located, with low-income people the primary target.

Through the program, women living near the clinics can access pap smear tests, and counseling free of charge. It is hoped that, within one year, 2,000 women will undertake cancer detection tests through the program.

'€œCurrently, cervical cancer is the second most deadly cancer for women in Indonesia after breast cancer. There are 15,000 cases of cervical cancer per year, or 41 cases that occur every day. It is a very alarming fact,'€ IPMG chairman Luthfi Mardiansyah said in a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said the program was aimed at increasing public awareness on the importance of the early detection of cancer, by providing opportunities for women from low-income families to get a cervical cancer screening test.

The IPMG is providing funding for one year, from November 2013 to November 2014, which is being used to cover 50 percent of the total costs of the pap smear tests that are being conducted at all YKB clinics.

'€œThe screening test is an important step to take to detect cervical cancer. Unfortunately, in many areas, many women can not afford to pay for screening tests due to financial difficulties, so the IPMG is helping them by creating access to the test at an affordable price,'€ said Luthfi.

A pap smear screening test at one of the YKB clinics costs Rp 75,000 (US$6.45) per person. Through the partnership, the IPMG is covering half of the total cost, so all patients can undertake a pap smear test for only Rp 35,000. (ebf)

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