|
 "I first started as a customer six months ago and when I compared
medical examination results before and after, they were actually
better," he told Reuters by telephone.
Salim is one of 10 million people who live with diabetes in
southeast Asia's most populous nation, its health ministry
estimates. After stroke and heart disease, diabetes ranks among the
top three killers in the country.
Diabetes accounted for nearly 100,000 deaths in Indonesia last year,
and for 1.5 million deaths globally in 2012, the World Health
Organization says. Health experts blame these high rates on poor
dietary and lifestyle choices.
One company has seized on this opportunity: MyMeals, a food delivery
service that caters to people with clinical conditions, and has
about 250 customers a day in places such as Jakarta, the capital,
and the East Java city of Surabaya.
"I had hypertension and it was difficult to find any healthy food
catering, so I started this business based on my own experience,"
said founder Ignatius Zaldy, who says a better diet improved his own
condition, along with exercise and medicines.
"We want to change people's eating patterns," Zaldy said at the
company's headquarters, where a handful of cooks prepare and package
small portions of vegetables and meat in its kitchen before a fleet
of motorcycles speeds them to customers.
Zaldy, 44, says the company employs nutritionists to ensure meals
are appropriate for victims of heart disease, high cholesterol and
hypertension, although nearly a third of customers are diabetics.
Still, options such as MyMeals, which costs about 68,000 rupiah
($5.15) for each meal, are a luxury in a country where the World
Bank says nearly 40 percent of a population of 250 million lives on
around $2 a day.
[to top of second column] |
Indonesia now encourages more people to screen for diabetes, so as
to spot, and treat, it earlier, health officials say.
"But remote areas are a concern," said health expert Sidartawan
Soegondo. "Even though there is a public health clinic in all areas,
diabetes medication is limited."
Yet Salim prefers the expense of catering to the restricted
lifestyle his disease forced on him.
"My health has been better so far, and I'm even able to go on
holiday with my family again," he said.
($1=13,200 rupiah)
(Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
