Indigenous Papuan women have the worst maternal health outcomes in Indonesia. They live in rural areas, have epidemic levels of HIV and syphilis and often experience trauma and discrimination when they seek medical care. The Bumi Sehat clinic offers Indigenous-staffed and run maternal health services. A lab will provide essential lab services at no cost for our patients, including HIV and STD testing.
Indigenous Papuan women have the worst maternal health outcomes in Indonesia. They often live in rural or inaccessible areas, have epidemic levels of HIV and syphilis and can experience trauma and discrimination when they seek medical care. They often can't afford lab testing and so miss out on this potentially life-saving tool due to financial constraints.
Patients often can't afford the cost of having lab work so they don't get properly diagnosed for health conditions, or health conditions go undetected. By providing a by-donation lab, we can ensure that all of our patients and their families get the testing they need, regardless of ability to pay. Because of the trust that Bumi Sehat Papua has built in the local community, and not setting standard lab fees, we're confident that we can achieve greater lab testing by the local population.
Our project will allow testing for STD and HIV, for diseases such as malaria or dengue and for chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. People with HIV or STDs can receive treatment and counseling and won't spread these infections. Infectious diseases can be properly diagnosed and effectively treated. We believe this lab can improve disease treatment, and reduce long term disease suffering, spread and disability, in the local area via early diagnosis and treatment.
