History and growth of radiation oncology in Indonesia

In order to assess its progress, and to obtain a snapshot of the current situation, the Indonesian Radiation Oncology Society has routinely conducted annual surveys since 2004 to assess the current condition of resources for equipment and staffing in all radiation oncology centres in the country. Based on these routine surveys, the society has made recommendations to the government about providing cancer patients with better and more affordable access to radiotherapy services. Questionnaires in hard and soft copy forms were distributed annually to Indonesian Radiation Oncology Society members, and all 22 centres (19 in 2004) responded by sending back the completed questionnaires. The obtained data was compared with results of the first survey in 2004. In 2008, there were 22 radiotherapy centres in Indonesia, 18 Linear Accelerators and 17 cobalt units. There were 270 radiation oncology professionals, including 41 radiation oncologists, 38 medical physicists, 6 dosimetrists, 125 radiation therapy technologists, and 60 nurses. In addition, there were 17 residents and trainees participating in the Radiation Oncology training program. A lot of progress had been made in the four-year period from 2004 to 2008. Indonesia has seen the establishment of 4 new centres, which indicates a 50% increase in the number of available treatment units, and a 29% increase in the number of human resources. These achievements were possible because more attention has been placed on cancer care issues in Indonesia, a great success due to the advocacy efforts of the Society. However, numerous issues still need urgent attention from all the stakeholders.