PEOPLE’S MIND – Today’s Google Doodle commemorates the birthday of Prof. Dr. Sulianti Saroso , MPH, PhD, a doctor who has dedicated her life to research and designing health policies in Indonesia.
Dr. Sulianti Suroso is an important figure in the field of prevention and control of infectious diseases, as well as family planning (KB). She was the first female doctor to recognize that poverty, malnutrition, and maternal and child health are inextricably linked.
Although known to be fast and agile, more like an activist than a bureaucrat, Doctor Sulianti is said to have never treated patients directly, or injected needles into someone’s body. The focus is only placed on research and planning.
“She almost never injected people or wrote prescriptions,” says her daughter, Dita Saroso, a former banking professional who is now enjoying her retirement in Bali.
So what was Sulianti Suroso’s life journey like and how can his name be remembered until now?
Profile of Sulianti Saroso
Sulianti Saroso was born May 10, 1917 in Karangasem, Bali. He is the second child of Doctor M Sulaiman’s family. As a doctor, Sulaiman’s job shifts.
He took his basic education in Dutch ELS (Europeesche Lagere School), then elite secondary education at the Bandung Gymnasium, and continued his tertiary education at Geneeskundige Hoge School (GHS), the new name for the STOVIA Medical School in Batavia.
In 1942, where she graduated from STOVIA, Sulianti Saroso’s career as a medical person began. He had worked as a doctor at the Central General Hospital in Jakarta, or what is currently called Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.
When the capital moved to Yogyakarta, Sulianti also moved to become a republican doctor and worked at Bethesda Hospital in Yogyakarta. His academic journey does not stop even though he already has a quite satisfying career.
Sulianti received a scholarship from WHO to study maternal and child health governance in several European countries, especially the UK. From there, he obtained a Certificate of Public Health Administration from the University of London.
Study results of maternal and child health governance, Sulianti campaigned for the use of contraception in Indonesia. Even though at that time the government was still turning a blind eye, Sulianti continued to struggle by relying on private channels.
Together with a number of women activists, she founded the Family Welfare Foundation (YKK) which initiated family planning clinics in various cities. To build a model mother and child service system, he also set up a service post in Lemah Abang, Bekasi.
On the other hand, her passion for research on infectious diseases made Sulianti oversee the idea to develop the Tanjung Priok Quarantine Hospital into an Infection Center Hospital with the latest technology, state-of-the-art equipment, and qualified human resources.
Unfortunately, just before the RSPI was built, Doctor Sulianti died in 1991. Therefore, Doctor Sulianti’s name was immortalized as the name of the RSPI which is located in the Sunter area, North Jakarta. ***
