Lifestyle can influence the high prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), the catastrophic diseases with the highest cause of death in Indonesia. The diseases included in the NCD category are coronary heart disease, cancer, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes militus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and disorders due to accidents and violence.
The development of NCDs in Indonesia is increasingly worrying, followed by a shift in disease patterns, driving Universitas Indonesia (UI) through the Faculty of Pharmacy (FPharm) to conduct Community Service in the form of counseling and health checks to residents of Sasak Panjang Village, Bogor Regency, West Java.
In this community service activity, FPharm UI collaborated with the Makara UI Satellite Clinic to check blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and uric acid to approximately 100 residents of Sasak Panjang Village. In its implementation, the event which was held on Wednesday (29/6) was carried out by lecturers, education staff, and students and assisted by the Human Initiative.
The event was attended by the Dean of FPharm, Prof. Dr. apt. Arry Yanuar, M.Si; Service, Education and Research Coordinator of UI Makara Satellite Clinic, dr. Trevino Pakasi, Ph.D, Sp.KKLP; dr. Fatimah Ismail from UI Makara Satellite Clinic; Clinical Pharmacy Lecturer of FPharm, apt. Larasati Arrum Kusumawardani, M.Si.; Lecturer of Phytochemistry and Pharmacognosy FPharm, apt. Nuraini Puspitasari, M.Si; and Head of Sasakpanjang Village, Andi Umi Yulaikah. In her speech, she hoped that the health check and counseling could make the villagers aware of the importance of maintaining health. “We hope that this community service event can increase the awareness of the residents here to always maintain their health and maintain a good lifestyle to avoid degenerative diseases by conducting routine monitoring,” she said.
In line with the Dean of FPharm, Dr. Trevino also admitted that the UI Makara Clinic was very enthusiastic about doing community service collaboration with FPharm. He strongly supports this counseling activity that teaches the community how to prevent degenerative diseases that are experienced by many people. “I also want to convey that what we want to teach here is not about the treatment but how to prevent degenerative diseases, such as blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and uric acid,” said Dr. Trevino.
In the presentation session, Dr. Fatimah conducted a counseling entitled “Miscellaneous Degenerative Diseases (Non-Communicable Diseases)”. According to her, risk factors for degenerative diseases include smoking, lack of physical activity, alcohol consumption, and lack of vegetable and fruit consumption. “Therefore, the Ministry of Health urges the public to implement the CERDIK (translated to smart) lifestyle, namely regular health Checks, get rid of (Enyahkan) cigarette smoke, diligent (Rajin) physical activity, balanced Diet, adequate rest (Istirahat), and manage (Kelola) stress,” he said.
One of the speakers, apt. Dr. Larasati, who is a lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at FPharm UI, discussed the DAGUSIBU of Degenerative Disease Medications, namely Get (Dapatkan), Use (Gunakan), Store (Simpan), and Dispose (Buang) of drugs properly and correctly. She appealed to all citizens to ensure that the medicine to be used is still in good condition, read the warnings and rules on the medicine packaging, and ask the pharmacist or pharmacy officer how to use the medicine correctly before using the medicine. “The medicine must also be used regularly as prescribed,” she said.
The next Speaker, apt. Dr. Nuraini, who is a lecturer in Phytochemistry and Pharmacognosy at FPharm UI, conducted counseling on Herbal Plants for Degenerative Diseases. Apt. Nuraini explained that herbal plants have various benefits, such as Rosela with very high antioxidant properties, Brotowali which is very good for diabetes therapy, Garlic which is good for dyslipidemia therapy, and Sidaguri which can be used for gout therapy. Aside from these various benefits, there are things to note which include Rosela cannot be consumed by children, Brotowali is contraindicated in pregnancy and lactation, Bitter melon is contraindicated in pregnancy and can reduce fertility, and Cat Root can cause allergic reactions.
Meanwhile, Andi as the Head of Sasakpanjang Village expressed his appreciation for this community service activity and hopes that this activity can increase the awareness of the Sasak Panjang Village community to continue to pay attention to their health. “I would like to thank the committee from FPharm and the UI Makara Satellite Clinic. I hope that the counseling event delivered by experts from UI as well as health checks will be beneficial for all villagers and make them realize the importance of checking their health regularly,” Andi said.
The community service activity ended by giving a post-test to test the increase in knowledge of the villagers after the counseling. The post-test results showed that after the counseling ended, 100% of residents experienced a significant increase in scores regarding the knowledge provided during the counseling.
