Minister of Health Nila Moeloek Supports #generAKSISEHATIndonesia Astra Hands Over 1,505 Glasses in Nunukan

Minister of Health Nila Moeloek Supports #generAKSISEHATIndonesia Astra Hands Over 1,505 Glasses in Nunukan

Nunukan, North Kalimantan: PT Astra International Tbk along with Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia, PMI) will hand over glasses to the Indonesian children. This time, Astra will hand out 1,505 glasses to Nunukan, North Kalimantan children, who live near the Indonesia – Malaysia border. Indonesian Minister of Health, Nila Moeloek, is present and supports the event.

The glasses hand over will be done after eye examination, which includes scanning followed by refraction examination for the children on April 17^th 2015.

This eye examination and glasses hand over is a continuation from the total handed glasses of 4,005 glasses. As many as 958 glasses were handed in North Jakarta on 26^th January 2015 and 1,500 glasses were handed in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara on February 12^th 2015.

The glasses hand over in Nunukan coincides with a working visit of the Ministry of Health. During the visit, Minister Nila Moeloek and her staffs make a visit to the Regional General Hospital (Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah, RSUD) Nunukan, Long Distance Midwives Schools (Sekolah Bidan Jarak Jauh) and several Public Health Centers (Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakat, Puskesmas) in Nunukan.

“Glasses help us see well, we all need glasses, not just our children,” says the Minister of Health during the eye exam in Nunukan 02 State Elementary School (SD 02 Nunukan). She adds “And of course we are grateful towards Astra who helps us provide glasses to the students of 29 elementary schools in Nunukan.”

Head of Health & Social of Indonesian Red Cross Headquarters, Rapiudin Hamarung, Nunukan Regent H. Basri, Chief of Corporate Communication of PT Astra International Tbk Pongki Pamungkas, Head of Environment & Social Responsibility of PT Astra International Tbk Riza Deliansyah, Astra Group Board of Directors, and Nunukan District Leaders Deliberation (Musyawarah Pimpinan Kecamatan, Muspika).

In this event, Astra also hands over three unites of motorcycles to three public health centers in Nunukan, which are: Puskesmas Sungai Tewan-Sebatik, Puskesmas Lapri-Sebatik Utara, and Puskesmas Tanjung Harapan-Sembangkung Akulai.

#generAKSISEHATIndonesia

The event in Nunukan is a part of #generAKSISEHATIndonesia program, which is initiated by Astra International. Through this program, Astra invites all Indonesia citizens to commit to a healthy lifestyle for a better future of the nation, through a movement that utilizes social media. This activity took place from October 10^th – November 30^th 2014.

During said period, Astra had successfully gathered 4,005 pictures of healthy commitments, which were uploaded by the public to their social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube) using the hashtag #generAKSISEHATIndonesia, which loosely translated to Indonesia Healthy Generation. These 4,005 commitments were converted into glasses.

Astra runs its Corporate & Social Responsibility programs in four main pillars, which are education, environment, SMEs, and health. In health field, Astra focuses on mother and children programs, working alongside the government and general public.

There are several programs that Astra has done in health field. In a blood donor event, Astra has donated 126,452 bags of bloods. Astra Health Car (Mobil Kesehatan Astra, MOKESA) has cared for 94,296 patients in need of medical attention. Astra has also developed 915 integrated medical stations (Pos Pelayanan Terpadu, Posyandu), as well as gives free cataract operations to North Jakarta residents.

#generAKSISEHATIndonesia event is inspired from the fact stated in Basic Health Research Data of the Ministry of Health in 2013. The data states that 4.6% of the total Indonesian population wears refractive correctional glasses and contact lenses. Whereas WHO (World Health Organization) data states that 80% of visual impairment cases could be prevented and 90% of visual impairment cases suffered by people of a low-income family.

If attributed to the children growth and development, if refraction anomaly is not properly handled, it could affect their intelligence development. A hindered learning process would affect child’s quality, creativity, and productivity in their productive years, which is 15-64 years old. In Indonesia, out of 66 millions school children (5-19 years old), 10% of them suffered visual impairment cause by refraction anomaly. The number of Indonesians, who wear corrective glasses is still low, which is 12,5%.

Nunukan, April 17^th 2015
PT Astra International Tbk

Yulian Warman
Head of Public Relations