People with heart disease in West Papua who want to have a ring installed now no longer need to seek treatment in Makassar City, Surabaya or Jakarta. Now you just have to go to the Biak Regional General Hospital, Papua Province, which already operates cardiac catheterization services. This service is the first in West Papua Indonesia.

The heart disease treatment service at the Biak Regional General Hospital is part of the implementation of the vision and mission to create a healthy Papua, which aims to treat sick Papuan patients so that they can recover and be healthy again.

The cardiac catheterization facility (cath lab) is owned by the Biak Regional General Hospital. Heart health services include, among other things, cardiac catheterization and angiography to determine diagnostics for heart and blood vessel diseases.

After carrying out a medical examination for certain patients with cardiac catheterization, the doctor then carries out non-surgical intervention according to indications through the blood vessels.

For some lay people, cardiac catheterization is a general term used for a series of imaging procedures to insert a catheter into the chambers or blood vessels of the heart.

When the catheter is in a predetermined position, this tool can be used to carry out a number of further examination procedures and therapy such as coronary angiography, angioplasty, and installation of an artificial valve (balloon valvuloplasty).

Director of Biak Regional General Hospital, Dr. Ricardo Mayor stated that the cardiac catheterization treatment service at Biak Regional General Hospital will be handled by two heart disease specialists.

In 2024, the management of the Biak Regional General Hospital will add another heart specialist who has the expertise to install rings for heart disease patients.

An additional heart specialist who completed his education at the University of Indonesia. This additional specialist doctor will improve services for patients seeking treatment at the Biak Regional General Hospital.

The provision of heart disease treatment facilities at the Biak Regional General Hospital, among other things, aims to reduce the cost of treating Papuan patients who have to seek treatment at hospitals as far away as Jakarta, Makassar and Surabaya.

With the cardiac catheterization service at the Biak Regional General Hospital, it can help reduce the costs of outpatient treatment without having to go to various hospitals outside Papua which require large costs.

If a Papuan has a heart disease, now they don’t need to seek treatment until they leave Papua, but simply come for treatment at a referral hospital at the Biak Regional General Hospital. Patients will get the best service at Biak Regional General Hospital.

“Health examinations for patients seeking treatment at the Biak Regional General Hospital will be provided using modern standard medical equipment,” said Ricardo.

Heart Laboratory

Cardiac catheterization can also be used to treat certain heart disease problems without having to undergo major heart surgery.

Cardiac catheterization is a procedure of inserting a long tube or catheter into a blood vessel which is then directed to the heart. This examination and treatment method is carried out by a heart specialist.

Catheterization therapy also functions to restore flow to obstructed blood vessels using balloons, metal rings (stents), or bypass blood vessels (grafts).

  Catheterization can also be performed to open stenotic (narrow) heart valves and to repair congenital damage by a specialist.

If an angiography or catheterization examination reveals a blockage in the coronary arteries, after cardiac catheterization it can immediately proceed to the procedure of installing a small tube or stent.

Through a guide tube, the doctor will insert a fine, flexible wire through the blocked area to the bottom of the blocked artery.

The wire or ring functions as a rail for inserting balloons and stents, as well as several other necessary tools.

To open the blockage, a balloon will be inserted through the guide wire to the area of the blocked coronary artery.

Then it is expanded or blown until the blockage opens. After the balloon is removed, a stent or ring is inserted into the blockage that was opened earlier. An x-ray of the heart is taken to ensure that the stent is properly positioned at the site of the blockage.

Healthy Papua

The Regent of Biak Numfor Herry Ario Naap stated that the construction of various health infrastructure facilities at the Regional General Hospital and other health facilities aims to realize the implementation of Special Autonomy regarding Papua and Healthy Biak.

So far, the health sector in the Papua special autonomy era has been one of the priority programs of district/city governments in Papua Province.

The large budget spent by residents when seeking treatment for heart disease at hospitals outside Papua puts a huge financial burden on the people of Papua.

With the socio-economic conditions of indigenous Papuans in various villages and districts still having minimal income, the Biak Numfor Regency Government through the Biak Regional General Hospital continues to roll out the Healthy Papua program for all residents.

The realization of the Healthy Papua program, among other things, includes completing infrastructure in the form of medical equipment, one of which is heart catheterization.

“The Catheterization Laboratory is to treat heart disease sufferers who have had to seek treatment outside Papua, at great expense,” hoped Regent Herry.

Head of the Biak Numfor Health Service, Daud N. Duwiri, admitted that the regional government is paying great attention to completing the services of the Biak Regional General Hospital, for example, with cardiac catheterization.

“By providing heart disease services, doctors no longer send patient referrals but simply handle them at Biak Hospital, which has the same equipment as large hospitals outside Papua,” said Duwiri.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Acceleration of Development of Special Autonomy for Papua, Pastor Albert Yoku, acknowledged that the granting of special autonomy for Papua in accordance with Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 2 of 2021, there are four vision missions in the Papua Special Autonomy era that must be implemented in regional development, namely Healthy Papua, Smart Papua, Papua is Productive, and Papua is Peaceful in daily life.

Through the Healthy Papua program, the Government is obliged to provide human resources in the form of health workers and health infrastructure at health centers and hospitals.