PT Inti Indosawit Subur Performs Free Health Checks for Local Villages

With the changing seasons and weather conditions at this time of the year, the potential risks of contracting diseases and getting seriously ill is very high, as the climate changes provide the perfect breeding grounds for bacteria, parasites and viruses to grow.

Diseases that commonly run rampant during this period are Upper Respiratory Tract Infections, flu, diarrhoea and the common cold. Though these diseases can affect anyone regardless of their age and health, the ones affected most severely and suffer from the highest death rate are young children and the elderly.

Taking preventative measures as early in the season as possible is the best way to prevent large breakouts of diseases, especially in poverty stricken areas that do not have access to medical facilities.

PT Inti Indosawit Subur forms part of the business group Asian Agri, and is a privately owned palm oil company situated in the Riau and Jambi provinces of Indonesia. They have, with government approval and the assistance of the Tanoto Foundation, founded by philanthropist Sukanto Tanoto, organised teams of health care specialists to visit local villages surrounding the Asian Agri palm oil plantations to give out free medical treatments and health checks to the inhabitants whilst raising awareness of the importance of proper hygiene and health care at the same time.

The free health care and health education is a part of the Corporate Social Responsibility program of PT Inti Indosawit Subur and Asian Agri, part of the RGE group of companies. The aim of the program is to improve the quality of community resources through free medical inspections and treatments.

The inhabitants of the villages are very happy to receive the free medical assistance, with one of the recent patients residing in the village Bukit Gajah commenting, “I saw a doctor and after having been examined, was diagnosed with high uric acid. The doctor suggested I had to look after what I ate, and I was given some medicine to drink if there are complaints.”