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Yogyahealth is a collaborative global health programme which was founded in 2008 by Matt Lechner, MD PhD, under Prof. Bernd Rode’s, Prof. Erich Schmutzhard’s and Prof. Walter Kofler’s (University of Innsbruck, Austria) guidance together with research teams at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Gynaecology and Obstetrics and Public Health at the University Gadjah Mada and Dr. Sardjito Hospital where Mr. Lechner trained on a fully recognised clinical training position in 2008 and which he visited on multiple occasions during the subsequent years. He last came to the Gadjah Mada University in March this year, bringing sponsored clinical equipment to multiple departments.

This well established campaign under the umbrella of ASEA-Uninet has been running for over 7 years and has significantly promoted public awareness of cancer and has run specific projects, particularly in the fields of cancer and public health in Yogyakarta Special Province Region of Indonesia.  Working with good friends and colleagues locally, Yogyahealth has screened over 2500 people for cancer in rural areas. They provide regular screening services for members of the public and seminars to promote the most up to date research for medical professionals, with a specific focus on nasopharyngeal cancer.

The three project arms, the Yogyakarta Head and Neck Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Programme (www.yogyaent.org), a project focusing on the prevention and early detection of head and neck cancer, in particular nasopharyngeal cancer (in close collaboration with Prof. Bing Tan and Dr. S.R. Indrasari), the Yogyakarta Public Health Promotion Link (www.yogyahealth.org/publichealth) which runs in close collaboration with Dr. Yayi Suryo Prabandari, ‘Principal Investigator of Quit Tobacco Indonesia’ (http://quittobaccointernational.org/team-indonesia.html), focusing on tobacco prevention, and the Yogyakarta Women’s Health Initiative (www.yogyahealth.org/womenshealth), which focuses on the promotion of women’s health and the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer.

A donation of surgical instruments and equipment for biopsies for district ENT services, such as in the province of Wonosari, included a flexible nasoendoscope, kindly sponsored by the company Olympus. We have also been able to seek political support for this program during a visit (under the umbrella of ASEA-UNINET) of a delegation from Indonesia, including Former President of the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Mme. Megawati Soekarnoputri which was kindly facilitated by Prof. Bernd M. Rode.