On the 10th-13th of August 2017, the leprosy study group of Institute of Tropical Disease Universitas Airlangga attended the National Conference of Dermatologist and Venereologist in Semarang, Central Java, was attended by more than 2000 audiences – not only registered dermatologists and venereologists but also general practicioners, student dermatologists, and others working in the field of dermatology and venereology. The conference was officially opened by the Central Java Governor Mr. Ganjar Pranowo, and proceeded by a series of specialty lectures presented by the respective experts.
Prof. Indropo Agusni, dr., Sp.KK, one of the few leprosy experts in Indonesia who is also the head of the leprosy laboratory, shared his knowledge through the lecture on subclinical leprosy in Indonesia. Professor Agusni also emphasized on the importance in implementing health regulations to cover the subclinical leprosy patients as it can act as the preventative measure to prevent future leprosy cases. In his lecture, Professor Agusni also introduced Dr. Wim van Brakel, the representative of Netherland Leprosy Relief (NLR) Amsterdam and his ongoing Post Exposure Prophylaxis Project ++ (PEP++) held in the top three countries with the highest number of leprosy cases. NLR Amsterdam is currently in partnership with the Indonesian Ministry of Health to hold a joint research with the General Hospital of Dr. Soetomo, Surabaya and Leprosy Laboratory of ITD Universitas Airlangga.
The three members of the leprosy laboratory (Iswahyudi, Dinar, and Prita) participated on the Poster competition. The event concluded with the election for the new President Board of the Indonesian Dermatologists and Venereologists Association (PERDOSKI). One of our own senior researcher, Dr. M. Yulianto Listiawan, dr., SpKK., was elected to be the PERDOSKI National President Board of for the 2017-2020 period.
