Haze Victims Need Comprehensive Health Checks

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Haze victims of forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan need to check their health because they have the risk of developing cancer in the future, Pancasila University Rector Wahono Sumaryono said.

"The impact of inhaling the haze is not instant but in the long run, some 5 to 10 years. Therefore, they need good health handling," Wahono said on the sidelines of a pharmacy fair at the Pharmacy Faculty of the Pacasila University here on Sunday.

He said the haze victims therefore need nutritional improvement and health lifestyle to maintain their health from various diseases.

"They need to continuously consume fruit, vegetables, vitamin and mineral so that their bodies will remain fit," he said.

Wahono said that haze victims who were sensitive to developing cancers were children, elderly and expectant mothers because the immunity of their bodies was reduced.

The negative impacts on health of haze included respiratory disturbance, nose problem and lung diseases. Now, numerous haze victims have been suffering from respiratory infections.

The same thing was also said by the Pancasila University's pharmaceutical professor Yahadiana who argued that bad environment factors, including haze, could trigger the development of cancers. But the impact could be detected only in the long run.

"Some 90-95 percent of the cancer causes are environment factors, while the genetic factor only accounts for about 5-10 percent," Yahadiana said.

Therefore, the professor said, the government needs to conduct health checks, namely a random DNA examinations, on the haze victims, Yahadiana said. (WDY)