Every child is precious, what more a child stricken with cancer or HIV. The Singapore International Foundation’s (SIF) new Singapore Volunteers Overseas (SVO) project in Jakarta will reach out to these children.
Launched on April 21, 2009, the SVO Specialist Team (Palliative Care for Children) Project will enable the transfer of skills and knowledge in paediatric palliative care to Indonesian medical professionals and caregivers.
This partnership with Yayasan Rumah Rachel (Rachel House) — the first paediatric hospice in Indonesia — will benefit children with end-stage diseases as well as their immediate family members.
According to the Indonesia Childhood Cancer Foundation, every year 650 children below 18 years old are stricken with cancer in Jakarta alone.
Through six one-week visits to Jakarta over two years, the SVO team will train 40 Indonesian professionals and caregivers in areas like the assessment, treatment and management of pain and symptoms experienced by children with life-threatening illnesses.
The SVO team is led by Dr. Cynthia Goh, the head of the Department of Palliative Medicine at the National Cancer Centre Singapore and Centre Director, Lien Centre for Palliative Care. Other team members will vary with each visit.
Of the 40 trainees, 12 form the core team who will, in turn, transfer what they learnt to other palliative caregivers in Indonesia. They are from organisations like Rachel House and Rumah Sakit Kanker Dharmais (Dharmais Cancer Hospital).
The launch ceremony was graced by the presence of Singapore’s ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Ashok Mirpuri, and the head of the Centre of Health Development Policy Analysis, Indonesia Ministry of Health, Dr. Untung Suseno Sutarjo.
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