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General Advice for Healthy Living
during your stay in Indonesia

The health risks of living in and traveling through the tropics are often underestimated, but also exaggerated. Any risks to health also vary a great deal with length of stay, occupation, budget and location. The majority of expatriates are at very low risk from serious "tropical troubles" due to good previous health, a substantial budget for eating, living, traveling and medical care, and when necessary relatively rapid access to local and overseas specialist medical services.

The most important adjustment to make to safeguard your health is to realize how protected we are in more developed countries from infectious and contagious diseases; and therefore how we need to modify the habits - literally of a lifetime - when living in countries with less developed infrastructure.

In many countries, food is inspected at all stages of its production, and water checked in the same fashion; sewerage and garbage disposal are well organized and regular; health inspectors, public health departments and individual doctors and nurses work closely together to prevent epidemic and endemic diseases; and there are nowhere near the numbers and types of insects and animals to spread the variety of diseases which are much less common or non-existent in cool and temperate climates. Now that we are in Indonesia, we have to take such responsibilities more personally.

Medical Services

Early in your stay - when there is no emergency - identify the closest medical facility with English-speaking personnel. Ascertain its working hours and its reputation if possible. If in Indonesia for the first time, bring your overseas medical records with you to assist your new doctors to become familiar with your past medical history. The approach to the provision of medical care as a service to both the population and the individual is quite different to what you may be used to.

Unless absolutely necessary, as in a major medical emergency, it is suggested that you do not go to the local hospital on your own without first contacting your medical assistance company; if you must, at least ensure you have a Bahasa Indonesia speaker to assist you, and enough money for the admission fees.

Many medications can be purchased over the counter that would only be available by prescription in your home country. However in most cases the manufacturer is different and therefore the drug is identified by a different brand name - know the generic (chemical) name of your medicines if you think you are going to need to restock locally. It pays to bring the package insert from your previous prescription with you. Fraudulent drugs are not a major problem if you purchase from an apotik, but be careful and check the dispensed drug before you pay for it.

You will need to pay cash at the completion of most medical consultations - very few medical facilities in Indonesia outside the main centers accept credit cards and when they do, often only accept VISA and MasterCard.

Emergencies

Keep your insurance / assistance company card with you at all times. Make a personal emergency response plan and have it translated into Bahasa Indonesia. This plan should answer the question "What would I want people to do if they found me unconscious?"

2. Call your insurance / assistance company early in the event of a problem.

Make a "check" call when you are NOT in trouble to ensure the phone number is valid, and that you can reach someone who speaks your language - and check they can do what you are wanting them to do in the event of an emergency. Do they have the necessary authority to act, and sufficient local personnel and infrastructure to act quickly?

3. In the event of an emergency, speed up the response by volunteering the minimum required information logically and clearly.

• Name, and telephone number you can be reached at if the line is cut off
• Membership Number or Company affiliation
• Brief description of the medical problem and what help you need
• Location of patient, and location of passport (vital for overseas medivacs)

ALL THE TIME know the status and whereabouts of your family's passports.

NEVER allow your travel documents to be taken from you overnight or over the weekend unless you know you can retrieve them in an emergency.

Notwithstanding the above precautions and concerns, living in Jakarta and Indonesia is generally not statistically less safe than living in most other (Western) countries (not least because the number one killer of under-40s in these countries is fatal road crashes, and these in turn are largely a product of high-speed careless driving while intoxicated; a problem very much less common in urban Jakarta).

Most of the risks and worries that concern us while we live here can be markedly reduced and even eliminated by our own care and attention. It's worth doing just that.

We trust this information will assist you to make correct choices for your health and welfare. However it is not, and is not intended to be, a substitute for personalized advice from your medical advisor.

Our appreciation to Dr. Rene de Jong of International SOS, An AEA Company who has contributed this article.

If you have medical-related questions about living in Indonesia to ask of medical professionals, see Ask the Experts.

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