“HEALTHY VACATION AND A GUIDE TO DISEASES IN INDONESIA”

EFRINA JULIA SIREGAR

FAKULTAS KEDOKTERAN

UNIVERSITAS ISLAM SUMATERA UTARA

Indonesia is one of those countries which are filled with culture and nature

tourism. Lots of people from other countries liked to travel to Indonesia. If people

were to travel to a tropical country like Indonesia, it is better to check their

medical health first before going anywhere. Firstly it is because of the hot

temperature that is why it is important to bring drinking water with you

everywhere while you’re travelling to avoid dehydration. Besides drinking water,

supplements and vitamins are essential to consume because it keeps your body fit

while travelling. People from foreign countries, it’s compulsory for them to get

check by a doctor before going to tropical countries like Indonesia. If tourist has

an inherited medical condition or is suffering from a heavy sickness, you better

bring your prescribed drugs from the doctor. If you’re healthy and well, bring

standardized drugs for example paracetamol just to keep safe.

Being fit and healthy is important for tourist because how else will they enjoy

their vacation if they’re sick all the time? Of course it will bother them while on

vacation and they won’t be able to enjoy themselves. Not only it is troublesome to

become ill in a foreign country, the cost for medical help is very expensive.

Therefore you have to be fit and healthy while travelling.

Indonesia is one of the developing countries. The health care and services for

these countries has become much better than it used to be. Even if facilities for

medical care have improved, new and improved diseases also appear. With the

tropic weather, pollution and increased number of pollution, people often

complaint of gastrointestinal diseases, respiratory diseases, heart diseases, stroke

and so on.

Firstly, the most common illness that the people of Indonesia have is coronary

heart disease. Why? It’s because of the unhealthy lifestyle. The Indonesian

community doesn’t get a lot of exercise; they do not prefer going anywhere while

walking. They eat fatty foods with large portions of it and they don’t work out.

This makes chances of getting heart diseases even greater. Also, half of the

population in Indonesia smokes and this is one of the factors of getting a heart

diseases.

The second most common illness is diarrhea. Why diarrhea? Because

Indonesia is one of the developing countries and not a lot of people know how to

live a healthy life. Most of the population still has middle to low state of

economy. Diarrhea is caused by bacteria from dirty food or dirty places. Thirdly is

Diabetes Mellitus, the elderly is suffering to this illness. It can be inherited, but it

doesn’t mean you can’t get it while living an unhealthy and irregular lifestyle. It’s

the same as heart diseases, because their etiologies are the same. Fourthly are

strokes which can be found in big cities. Elderly is also vulnerable to strokes,

people with a mindset of working and stress is also vulnerable to strokes. The fifth

most common are upper respiratory infection, with the tropical climate and hot

weather in the cities; it can make someone prone to infection. In cities, the dirty

pollution is increasing because of people already having their own vehicles plus

the public transport which uses solar greatly affects this. People also do not wear

face mask while going anywhere to avoid breathing the pollution.

TB is the next most common illness. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the cause

of TB. TB causes great number of deaths in these last few years. TB is easy to

transmit, usually to breathing the bacteria through air from an infected person.

Weak immune system also contributes to this illness.

If you’re gotten bitten by an insect called Aedes aegypti, you’ll probably have

dengue fever. This insect lives in tropical climate and Indonesia is one of those

endemic areas for this illness. AedesAgeypti transmits viruses to human beings

and infects them. The surroundings are an important factor to this disease.

Standing water and rubbish areas are where they grow, this is why it’s important

to keep your place and surroundings clean.

As you get older, hypertension is always a problem. People suffer from this, as

you’re blood pressure is getting higher, it will cause hypertension and a risk factor

to other diseases such as stroke, cardiac arrest and mostly the cause of chronic

heart failure.

Lastly, conjunctivitis is also common amongst the population. With pollution and

tropical climate is the cause of Indonesian community suffering from

conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis is inflammation of the conjunctiva, the outermost

layer of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelids. The symptoms are epiphora,

irritation, loss of vision of the eyes. It’s easy to cure because you can buy the

medicine in every pharmacy. However, you can easily get conjunctivitis, therefore

you’ve got to wash your hands before you cure your eyes and don’t touch your

eyes with dirty hands.

In conclusion, in Indonesia, you can easily suffer from diseases to the body

system such as the gastrointestinal system, respiratory system and cardiovascular

system because of the unhealthy lifestyle and low state of economy. However,

don’t be afraid to come to Indonesia because Indonesia is rich with cultural

background, clans, tourist sites and polite people, an experience you wouldn’t

forget. Bali is one of the most favorite’s sites to travellers. In North Sumatra, Lake

Toba and Dwiwarna Waterfall is also where tourist likes to visit. Because of the

expensive medical care, it is better to prevent something than to heal them. Don’t

be afraid to visit Indonesia because has improved on its update to medical

information and health care. So go and visit Indonesia especially to North

Sumatra. Thank you and Horas!