I believe that the independence of citizen affects prosperity of the country. Independent individuals are able to contribute to manage limited resources in order to fulfil their own desires and needs as individuals, groups and countries that continue to change and increase with the changing times. By independence, I mean the social and economic ability of individuals, households or communities to meet essential needs (including protection, food, water, shelter, personal safety, health and education) in a sustainable and dignified manner.[1]
For organizations operating in the private sector, independent investment is absolutely necessary. However, how big and how to start and run it certainly varies. Learning from experience when starting independent investing, it turns out that the most important initial principal is courage and determination.
The following is the program description of Angsamerah Company and the Angsamerah Foundation (Anak Bangsa Merajut Harapan) and the user community.
- Every month, there are more than 15,000 users accessing health articles, especially regarding sexual health in Angsamerah’s blog.
- Throughout 2021, more than 12,000 individuals visited two Angsamerah Clinic in Menteng and Fatmawati.
- Both of Angsamerah Clinics are trusted by the Ministry of Health as a private primary health facility providing referral services for antiretroviral treatment (ART). Currently, more than 1,400 individuals with HIV can access ART at both of Angsamerah clinics.
- Since the beginning of 2020, more than 5,600 individuals can easily and cheaply access the rapid HIV test services and other common tests through the Angsamerah POS mobile service, which is a service subunit managed and supervised by the Angsamerah Foundation Clinic. The aim of presenting the Angsamerah POS service is to bring access to health services at affordable costs, even at no cost, to the society. More than 200 people who were diagnosed with HIV by these services went straight to ART. They can continue their treatment at Angsamerah Clinic or at other health facilities that are the closest and convenient.
- Online sexual health and mental health education programs are regularly held through Angsamerah’s social media networks: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Likewise with offline events. Everyday Angsamerah’s educational contents are shared and reach 24,000 social media users.
- Psychological services are available for staff from 75 NGOs in Indonesia at the Angsamerah clinic. The funding comes from the support of the Packard Foundation which is managed by the Penabulu Foundation.
Until now, Angsamerah Company and Foundation are still operating and growing, even trying to enable themselves to adapt according to the changing needs of society. We hope that this short article will inspire the interest of observers, health professionals and organizations working in the health sector to promote the courage and determination to independently invest in Indonesia’s primary healthcare.
I learned that independent investment doesn’t mean you have to move alone. Having partners from various public and private sector organizations, as well as having diverse knowledge has an effect on operational efficiency and multiplying the results.
How are we able to do all this and how to get started? Interested to know more? Please read the following link.