Life is Healthy

Aid workers warn that survivors of the flash floods in Wasior, forced to live in their ruined homes, face the risk of fresh flooding. (Reuters Photo)

• 76 Still Missing in Wasior as Rain and Lack of Supplies Hamper Relief Efforts
• Indonesia President Doesn't Have to Take Care of Everything: House Speaker
• Logging Blamed for Floods in West Papua
• US Envoy Disappoints Papuan Activists by Not Probing Abuses
• Death Toll Approaches 100 After Papua Flash Floods

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) expects to increase its blood supply by building new donor centers in shopping centers and universities throughout the country.

“We want to bring people closer to the blood donor centers so that blood donation becomes second nature,” said PMI’s chairman Jusuf Kalla during the official launch of a blood donation unit in Crystal Lagoon, Lower Ground of Senayan City mall, South Jakarta, Monday.

He added that currently Indonesia faced a shortage in blood donations. According to the international standard, a country should ideally have at least two percent of blood supply from its total population.

“It means that we need 4.8 million bags of blood, while now PMI can only produce about 1.9 million bags each year,” said Jusuf.

He added that PMI targeted healthy young generation and middle class to increase good quality blood supplies.

Fresh blood: People donate blood Monday at Senayan City mall, Jakarta. Indonesian Red Cross chairman Jusuf Kalla launched a national blood drive campaign Monday that features donation booths in public places, such as shopping centers and campuses.JP/R. Berto Wedhatama

“That’s why we have chosen malls and universities where there’s a large concentration of people every day,” he said.

PMI, he added, set up permanent counters in malls with at least 20,000 visitors every day and in universities which have more than 20,000 students.

“After this we also plan to build factories to produce blood bags and needles, so that in the next two years we will have an independent blood system,” he said.

In Jakarta, PMI also plans to open new units in Tanah Abang shopping center, Trisakti University, and the State Islamic University, while it expected to build another six units in East Java and South Sulawesi provinces.

The health minister’s assistant for medicolegal affairs Faiq Bahfen said that a sufficient supply of

good quality blood that was easily accessible was crucial to support the government’s aims of decreasing the maternal mortality rate.

In 2007 data showed the country’s maternal mortality rate reached 228 deaths per 100,000 births, with 20 to 40 percent of the cases caused by excessive bleeding.

“We can prevent death by anticipating the causes and handling them promptly,” he said, highlighting the importance of good quality blood in emergency situations.

Safe blood transfer, he said, was also needed to overcome degenerative diseases, accident injuries and blood anomalies.

“We also hope to increase maternal health and reduce the infection of HIV/AIDS by providing a sufficient supply of blood,” he said.

He said the establishment of blood donor centers in malls and universities would increase voluntary blood donations, which would in turn support the government’s efforts to provide blood services to the public.

Chief executive officer of Senayan City Handaka Santosa said the blood donor centers would complement the routine blood donations that are held regularly in a number of shopping centers.

“During the soft opening yesterday of the permanent blood donation center we had around 25 visitors and they showed a good response,” he said. (lnd)

The establishment of blood donor centers in malls and universities will increase voluntary blood donations.

More than 300 people in Kebon Singkong, East Jakarta lost their homes in fire (Photo JG/Afriadi Hikmal)

A blaze in Kebon Singkong, East Jakarta, razed 380 houses to the ground and left 2,410 people homeless.

The blaze, which started at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, was extinguished at midnight. The fire reportedly started after a resident left boiling water unattended on a kerosene stove.

Rudy, a resident in the area, was injured while he was trying to put out the fire on his roof. He suffered from a bone fracture and is currently hospitalized at the Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta.

Titi, another resident, said that when the firefighters arrived, it was already too late.

"I could not save anything from my house because the fire spread very quickly," the mother of four told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday. "Now I don't have anything and I don't know what to do," she said, adding that her 8-year-old son is sick.

Asep Syarifuddin, deputy mayor of East Jakarta, that the the victims have been receiving aid since early Wednesday. "We have set up two shelter tents for them and two public kitchens," he said.

Aid from the Indonesian Red Crescent (PMI), the city's social agency, health agency, and the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), have also started to come in. "We have also set up a health post because we have many children here and they may get sick easily," Asep added.

Salim Segaf Al Jufri, minister of social affairs, visited the victims at the shelter and gave Rp 100 million ($11,000) to the East Jakarta municipal government.

"The money will be used to buy food and basic needs," Salim said. "This is enough for two days and we are going to give more aid if needed." Salim added that they are looking at the possibility of helping the victims rebuild their homes.

“We have to sit down and talk about it first, it takes inter-department discussions," he said.

Tempo Interactive, Thursday, 22 April, 2010 | 15:44 WIB

Surakarta:The Surakarta branch of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has disbursed Rp 1,9 billion to organize a charity month. “We organized an outbound training, training on motivation, educational institutions, and seminar,” PMI Surakarta secretary, Sumartono Hadinoto, said yesterday. There was also a charity shop for a humanitarian program, calling on people to donate their used items that can be resold. PMI will also organize another charity program on May 20, on the National Awakening Day.

The funds will be used for disaster management, free medical treatment, free ambulance services, free early test for cervical cancer, and to subsidize patients needing blood transfusion. “The biggest allocation of Rp 1,4 billion will be dedicated to patients in the blood transfusion unit,” said PMI Surakarta chief Susanto Tjokrosoekarno.

UKKY PRIMARTANTYO

"Indonesia has helped the difficult circumstances in Palestine and even rehabilitated our hospital in Gaza in January last year,” Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestinian Red Crescent, told a media conference on Thursday during a visit to the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), which Kalla now heads.

He said that during the military conflict, checkpoints into Gaza were blocked by the Israeli Army, and Palestinian authorities had major difficulty transferring relief and medical supplies to affected areas. “But PMI and other Indonesian organizations were able to cross the border and deliver aid during the war that affected more than 400,000 Palestinians,” he added.

To thank Indonesia for its efforts, Younis said he would like Kalla to visit Palestine to personally see the progress made since the conflict. “We would be very honored if Mr. Jusuf Kalla is willing to pay us a visit,” he said.

Kalla said that he was grateful for the invitation, but was not able to set an exact date for the visit. “I still have to arrange the schedule and wait for the right moment to come and visit Palestine — it’s all still being worked out,” he said.

During Younis’s visit, Kalla also handed over $100,000 in relief funds to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

In February last year, PMI delivered 2,000 blankets and $120,000 for victims of the conflict in Gaza.

Indonesia also donated Rp 20 billion ($2.2 million) to build a new hospital to help victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Half of the funding was provided by the government and the rest was collected from public donations through the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, or MER-C.

Antara News, Friday, April 2, 2010 20:41 WIB

Karawang, W Java (ANTARA News) - Hundreds of flood victims in Karawang district, West Java, on Friday received free medical treatment from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).

The chief of the PMI branch in Karawang, Eli Amalia, asked flood victims to always check their health because they were highly vulnerable to flood-related diseases.

"The PMI branch in Karawang will maintain a health command post until the end of the emergency response period (on April 4). The command post`s task is merely to help check the flood victims` health," he said.

He said during the emergency response period the district government would focus its attention on providing maximum health services to the flood victims.

Anom, a flood victim, said she came to the PMI health command post because she could not afford to see a doctor.

"When flood water inundated my house I did not evacuate because I hoped the flood water would recede soon. But after it did not recede for few days I decided to evacuate. Maybe because I was too much exposed to flood water, I developed itches," the 57-year old woman said.

Floods triggered by the overflowing of the Citarum river affected at least nine subdistricts in Karawang last month.

Telukjambe Timur subdistrict was the hardest hit by the floods with 17,658 homes inundated.

The floods inundated at least 7.517 homes in Karawang Barat subdistrict, 1,533 homes in Pakisjaya subdistrict, 1,308 homes in Rengasdengklok subdistrict, 1,192 homes in Jayakerta subdistrict, 604 homes in Telukjambe Barat subdistrict, 412 homes in Karawang Timur subdistrict, 250 homes in Batujaya subdistrict, 97 homes in Klari subdistrict and 81 homes in Ciampel subdistrict.

“During the campaign season, they all work. But when the campaign season is over and done with, they disappear, one by one,” said Kalla, chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).

Speaking from the resort island of Bali, Kalla said that Red Cross staff members and volunteers had to be in a state of constant readiness to allow them to respond quickly to disasters.

“Don’t just wait in your offices. It would be far better if you went out and set up blood donation posts in malls or office buildings,” Kalla said.

The former Golkar Party chairman was speaking after the PMI announced on Wednesday that it planned to open between 125 and 150 blood donation centers in shopping malls and on university campuses by June this year.

“ This year, the PMI plans to collect three million bags of blood and four million next year,” Kalla said on Wednesday.

He also said the PMI would provide a blood delivery service to hospitals, and added that the organization would build a plant to manufacture blood bags domestically rather than importing them.

On Saturday, Kalla asked the public to support the PMI to help it meet its blood donation targets.

“Our organization’s work is linked to the public,” Kalla said. “When a disaster occurs, the public helps through blood donations. The need for blood during a disaster is also a public need.”

He praised the PMI office in Bali for its well-equipped emergency facilities and the expertise of its employees and volunteers. Kalla reminded PMI workers on the island always to be on the alert because Bali’s reputation as one of the world’s top travel destinations put it in the global spotlight.

“No matter how small the disaster, if it occurs in Bali, news will reach all corners of the globe,” Kalla said.

I Gusti Lanang Made Rudiartha, the director of Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, said PMI’s Bali office had trouble funding its operations because of its reliance on the provincial budget. He said foreign donations poured in after the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, but most of this money had since dried up.

Kalla asked businesspeople across the country to provide financial assistance to the PMI so the organization could continue to carry out its work.

“In times of disaster, lots of businesspeople provide help, but this is not the case during normal periods,” he said.

Related Article:

Antara News, Thursday, March 25, 2010 00:54 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) plans to make breakthroughs this year to meet the country`s need for blood, PMI chief Jusuf Kalla said here on Wednesday.

"The breakthroughs are needed to meet blood needs. Annually Indonesia needs 3-4 million bags of blood," He said.

He said in 2008 PMI was only able to collect 1.7 million bags. "This year PMI plans to collect 3 million bags and next year 4 million bags," he said.

To meet the goal PMI plans to open 125 to 150 blood transfusion centers in places close to the community such as shopping malls and campuses as of June this year, provide blood delivery service from PMI to hospitals so that people need not visit transfusion centers to get blood supply and build a plant to produce the blood bags as the bags are still imported.

"The plant would help meet the needs which are always urgent. Self-sustainability is needed with regard to emergency situation and therefore the factory is needed," he said.

According to the Jakarta Red Cross’s fundraising figures, the capital’s less-affluent residents are more charitable than the moneyed.

Rini Sutiyoso, general secretary for the aid organization, said on Tuesday that of the more than Rp 12 billion ($1.3 million) it collected in 2009, about three-quarters came from low- to middle-income donors.

“I am very happy to announce that the total funds raised for 2009 have increased 13.8 percent from the previous year to Rp 12.43 billion,” Rini said, adding that the fact that 73 percent of the amount they raised in 2009 came from the lower-income brackets marked a new development for the organization.

Economically challenged East Jakarta raised the most for the Red Cross, contributing Rp 2.97 billion, while the Thousand Islands pitched in the least with Rp 34.3 million.

East Jakarta raised 18.6 percent more than last year, said Fajar Panjaitan, chairman of the Red Cross 2009 Fundraising Committee.

The Red Cross’ fundraising is usually through purchase-points, where people can buy donation coupons for Rp 500, Rp 1,000, Rp 2,000 and Rp 5,000. To be fair, this year they are planning to give the wealthy more opportunities to show their generous side.

“For our 2010 annual fundraising, which will start in September, we are going to target high schools, shopping centers, malls and universities with more than 20,000 students,” she said.

“For next year the Red Cross is going to increase the coupon value, and we are going to open 10 outlets at malls and shopping centers,” she said, adding that the Indonesian Red Cross was planning to open another 100 separate outlets throughout the country.

Governor Fauzi Bowo, who said he was pleased with the results of the fundraising, suggested a review and consultation with professionals in order to increase the Jakarta Red Cross’ appeal to other economic groups.

“We should also think about signing a memorandum of understanding with broadcast companies, such as private television and radio companies, to extend our reach, and also with the Jakarta chapter of the Moslem Charitable Donation Board [Bazis] to increase the effectiveness of the synergy in channeling the funds to those who need them most,” he added.

PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol was the highest contributor among state-owned enterprises, while the top donor among government institutions was the Basic Education Unit at the Jakarta Education Office. The Indonesian Association of Movie Entrepreneurs (GPBSI) was the largest private donor.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 02/13/2010 5:20 PM | Jakarta

Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) chairman Jusuf Kalla toured flood-hit Kampung Melayu area in East Jakarta to extend humanitarian assistance for victims of the disaster on Saturday.

East Jakarta Mayor Murdhani accompanied Kalla, who is former vice president, during his visit to hundreds of displaced people sheltered at an unused cinema.

“We provide initial assistance, including meals and medical services, to the flood victims,” Kalla said.

Chief of PMI’s East Jakarta office Kusnoto said the humanitarian organization provided breakfast and dinner meals to the displaced people. The PMI had also supplied tents, blankets, mattresses, milk and medicines for the flood victims, he added.

"Donating blood should become part of people`s life style and an act one can be proud of. People should feel awkward or unhappy if they have not donated blood," Kalla, a former vice president, said in Surabaya last Friday (Feb. 5), when visiting the Surabaya Blood Donation Center run by Surabaya`s PMI office.

Donating blood was healthy and should be promoted among all layers of society, including university students, businessmen and professionals, he said.

He suggested that blood donation units be opened in public areas such as shopping

centers to facilitate people who wished to donate blood.

"We (PMI) must approach the public," he said.

On his visit in Surabaya, Kalla was accompanied by representatives of the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) Bob McKerow, and Syver Hvammen of the Norwegian Red Cross.

Surabaya`s PMI office supplies around 400-500 pouches of blood daily to 33 hospitals and community health posts in the country`s second biggest city.

In a dialog with Jusuf Kalla, Herry Hadiwasito, a blood donor, hoped that the PMI could support blood donors by asking government hospitals to give discounts to them.

"We hope that blood donors can get discounts when they are treated at government hospitals," he said.

Kalla responded that donating blood was basically a voluntary act but he promised to discuss what could be done to reward blood donors.

On a separate occasion, Kalla said that although donating blood was voluntary PMI personnel must carry out their tasks professionally and be always ready for action to help people in emergency situations.

"Disasters are unpredictable. Therefore, PMI personnel must always be ready," he said.

"The foundation of PMI is humanitarian but it must be managed professionally, not socially. So, PMI is like the cooperative movement, from the people and for the people," he said.

He also hoped that PMI could improve its performance and facilities in order to encourage the public to donate. PMI tasks basically consists of two, blood transfusion and disaster emergency handling.

However, he asked PMI personnel to also help the communities face any emergency situations. For instance in case of dengue fever outbreaks, PMI personnel should not only supply blood for dengue fever patients, but also inform the public how to avoid dengue fever infection, he said.

Although Indonesia has a population of around 230 million, the PMI had so far only managed to collect 1.7 million pouches of blood annually, while demand nation-wide is around four million pouches, or around 2 percent of the total population as stipulated by WHO.

Therefore, PMI had set itself the target of collecting three million pouches of donated blood in 2010 to meet increased public demand for the vital body fluid.

"Last year, we only obtained 1.7 million pouches but this year our target is three million, and in 2011, four million," PMI Chairman Jusuf Kalla said in Yogyakarta on Saturday (Feb. 6).

Consequently, he said, PMI would launch public campaigns in public areas such as shopping centers, bus terminals, railway stations, and places of worship, as well as in companies and mass organizations, Kalla said at a meeting with personnel of Yogyakarta`s PMI. Blood donation units would also be set up at universities, he said.

The public campaigns, bearing the theme "Donating Blood is Healthy," would be carried out in conjunction with the setting up of permanent blood donation units at strategic locations.

"So, we will collect blood donations not just occasionally, like monthly or ceremonially. We will make donating blood part of people`s life style," he said.

Kalla also has an ambition that PMI would also set up a blood pouch-making plant to end its dependence on imported pouches, he said.

PMI gets around 80% of its blood stock from voluntary, unpaid donors, while the remaining 20% is collected from family replacement donations (where a member of the patient`s family is obligated to replace the units of blood given to the patient).

According to the WHO, the basis for an adequate supply of safe blood is a pool of healthy, regular, voluntary donors who give blood without financial or other reward.

Research has shown that donors who give blood of their own free will without the expectation of payment are the `safest` donors.

WHO said on its official website that since World Blood Donor Day was celebrated for the first time in 2004, 111 countries reported an increase of the number of voluntary donations; 32 of these 111 have more than doubled the number of voluntary donations as compared to 2004 figures; All these 32 countries are developing or transitional countries.

Eleven countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cook Islands, Cape Verde, Kuwait, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Myanmar, Niue, Vanuatu and Vietnam) report more than a 10% increase in voluntary unpaid donations in 2007, as compared to 2006 figures, WHO data showed.

Meanwhile, Dr. Yuyun Soedarmono, Director of the Blood Transfusion Unit of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) told ANTARA few years ago that "In Jakarta every day we receive more than 10 requests for our mobile units to go to certain offices that organize blood donation events. However, since our staff members and mobile facilities are limited, sometimes we have to turn down several requests."

Another obstacle is the expiration date on the blood stock, which can be stored for no longer than three weeks.

"If we collect too much blood in a certain period, it will be wasted because we can not keep it for more than three weeks in our storage," she explained.

"We screen 100% of donated blood for four diseases, namely syphilis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV," Dr. Yuyun said.

Basically, it is `in the blood` of many Indonesians to routinely donate blood, as many organizations, state-owned and private companies often organize blood donation activity when celebrating their anniversaries.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 02/06/2010 6:11 PM

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) will select 60 volunteers for a rigorous training under tutelage of the Special Force instructors.

PMI chief Jusuf Kalla said the special training would help prepare the volunteers for humanitarian missions in difficult terrains.

“We have received offers from the Mobile Brigade, the Special Force and the Marine Corps,” Kalla told Antara on his way to Yogyakarta on Saturday.

The special physical training will be given to PMI volunteers who live in Surabaya and Jakarta. “It’s only a small team, not all the volunteers will undergo the training,” Kalla said.

The volunteers, he added, would focus on disaster mitigation works that require high-level skills. Kalla said the volunteers would be armed with the best equipment.

“We are still negotiating the cooperation offer, its technicalities and the place for the training,” said Kalla.