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Loes Jaspers Research in 5 regions of Indonesia
“Selamat pagi! Good morning! What is your name? Where are you from?” From the moment I arrived in Indonesia I have been answering these questions on a daily basis. This phrase also characterizes the soul of the Indonesian people – always friendly, always curious and always welcoming.
I once asked a lady why it is that Indonesian people can show so much friendliness and hospitality without expecting anything in return. Her answer: “We are so poor. The only thing we can share is our hospitality. If we wouldn’t have that, we would have nothing.” And those words exactly describe the situation as it is in Indonesia. The country of the ‘orang miskien’, the normal poor people, who really have no more than the clothes they are wearing and the smile on their face. People live far away from health facilities and have no money to pay for health care or health insurance. Therefore, it is not surprising that under these circumstances, diseases like cervical cancer kill thousands.
In the Western world, a new preventive method to protect women against developing cervical cancer has been presented: vaccination against the Human Papillomavirus, the virus that causes cervical cancer. So what about the developing world? What about implementing this vaccine in countries like Indonesia, where cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women? We can only imagine the benefit that implementation of the HPV vaccine would have on women’s health in a country like this.
The Female Cancer Program gave me the chance to research this important topic in the place where it is most needed – the developing world. My focus was not on the HPV vaccine itself, but on the people.
The aim of my survey was to investigate which factors influence the decision of parents, with daughters aged 0-14 years old, to accept or reject vaccination of their daughters against HPV in Indonesia. These factors can be subdivided into the following groups: social-demographic factors, knowledge about HPV, cervical cancer and HPV vaccination, beliefs about vaccination in general, health beliefs about cervical cancer and HPV vaccination, and remaining factors like costs of the vaccine and religion.
I travelled to 5 different regions (Banjarmasin, Manado, Bali, Medan, and Surabaya) to carry out the research. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire. Local interviewers filled out the questionnaires during an interview which took place in Indonesian language. The interviews took place in different locations, varying from the academic hospital to the local public health centres in the field. We also did interviews during home visits in the villages. In total we did over 700 interviews in about 4 months time.
So what will I be taking home with me, except for a database filled with questionnaires? The experience of living and working in another country! I got to see how the Indonesian society works, although there are so many things I still don’t understand. I learnt how to be patient in a country where the ‘jam karet’, or rubber watch, is widely accepted. I learnt how to eat fried rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! And most importantly, I had a chance to meet and work with so many special people. I especially would like to thank the FCP for their support and all the people I have worked with that have made this an invaluable experience.