Author: Ahmad Cholis Hamzah of GNFI
The Ksatria Airlangga Floating Hospital, which began its maiden voyage in September 2017, has to this point visited various islands, especially distant ones, providing health services to the general public. This small vessel was created by experienced traditional shipbuilders within the Takalar sub-district of South Sulawesi province, which has long been a destination for sailors from the renowned Bugis ethnic group. It weighs 117 tons, is 30 meters long, has a 7.2-meter respiration room and medical equipment. It was the results of intense discussions amongst a small group of doctors – graduates of the Universitas Airlangga Surabaya School of Medicine in Indonesia – who’re particularly focused on the best way to cope with the issues of providing health services on distant islands, especially in East Java. and eastern a part of Indonesia.
Since then, the floating hospital has visited 69 islands with 2,200 volunteers, treating roughly 16,000 patients, including those affected by natural disasters in West Tenggara and Central Sulawesi. Recently, a team of doctors from the Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Airlangga Surabaya joined the Islands Maternal and Child Service Program mission, sailing to 11 islands within the Sumenep Regency region (East Java) and delivering as much as 15 newborns.
Universitas Airlangga graduates have agreed to expand the ship’s functions beyond providing medical assistance to the general public and it could function a research center where graduates from other disciplines, similar to social sciences, will conduct research on social issues similar to poverty, education, economic growth, local economic development etc. in areas where the ship disembarks. It could turn out to be a Center for Integrated Social Services where researchers could discover social problems, propose solutions and present their results to the federal government.
Indeed, Indonesia, with its archipelagic structure and roughly 17,000 islands, has its own problems in terms of providing social services to a dispersed population. Indeed, providing health services on distant islands, for instance, poses significant difficulties.
Although by way of size, this floating hospital is a “small” ship in comparison with US-owned floating hospitals similar to the 272.49-meter-long USNS (United States Navy Ship) Mercy or the 122-meter-long hospital ship Dr. Soeharto belonging to the Indonesian Navy. Although the Ksatria Airlangga is just 30 meters long, the ship was so well received by the general public that among the babies born on board were named after the floating hospital “Ksatria Airlangga”.
