International Journal of Community Service ISSN 2961-7162 .
https://ejournal.
com/index.
php/ijcs Vol.
Issue 1, 2025 DOI : 10.
55299/ijcs.
Integration of Tropical Disease Screening in Reproductive Health Services at Amplas Community Health Center.
North Sumatra Syahlis Irwandi,1 Zaim Anshari,2 Mayang Sari Ayu,3 Marlina Elfa Lubis,4 Miftahul Mardiyah5 Faculty of Medicine.
Islamic University of North Sumatra, 4,5 Mitra Sejati Health College email: s.
irwandi@gmail.
ABSTRACT
Tropical diseases remain important determinants of reproductive health in endemic regions.
However, screening for these infections is rarely integrated into reproductive health services at the primary care level.
This fragmentation contributes to low early detection and an increased risk of complications among women of reproductive age.
This community service program aims to develop and implement an integrated model for tropical disease screening within reproductive health services at Puskesmas Amplas.
Medan City.
The program employed a preAepost intervention design involving women of reproductive age .
Ae49 year.
selected through stratified random sampling.
The intervention included clinical screening, health education, and the strengthening of referral and integrated recording The results demonstrated a significant increase in early detection coverage and participants' knowledge, with a substantial proportion of respondents identified as having previously undetected risk factors for tropical diseases.
Implementation of the integrated service model also enhanced the capacity of primary healthcare providers in delivering promotional and preventive services.
These findings indicate that integrating tropical disease screening into reproductive health services is an effective and scalable approach to strengthening primary healthcare systems in endemic areas and improving community reproductive health outcomes.
Keywords:
Received:
Tropical diseases, reproductive health, screening, primary health care.
North Sumatra Revised:
Accepted:
Available online:
Suggested citations:
Irwandi.
Anshari.
Ayu.
Lubis.
, & Mardiyah.
Integration of tropical disease screening in reproductive health services at Amplas Community Health Center.
North Sumatra International Journal of Community Service, 5 .
, 38-43.
DOI: 10.
55299/ijcs.
INTRODUCTION
Tropical diseases remain a major public health burden in developing countries, including Indonesia, particularly in tropical regions such as North Sumatra.
Diseases such as dengue, tuberculosis, filariasis, malaria, and various parasitic infections not only cause significant morbidity and mortality but also contribute substantially to reproductive health problems in both women and men.
Scientific evidence has shown that chronic and recurrent infections can trigger anemia, systemic inflammation, hormonal disorders, infertility, pregnancy complications, and an increased risk of miscarriage and premature birth.
In the context of primary health care, the impact of International Journal of Community Service, 5 .
, 2026, pp.
| 39
tropical diseases on reproductive health is often undetected because reproductive health services and infectious disease control are managed separately.
In the Amplas Community Health Center (Puskesma.
area, which has a high population density and high risk of exposure to tropical diseases, this fragmentation of services has the potential to increase the health burden on mothers and families.
Therefore, an integrative approach that links tropical disease screening with reproductive health services at the community health center level is crucial to improve early development and to implement a model for integrating tropical disease screening into reproductive health services at the Amplas Community Health Center (Puskesma.
North Sumatra, to improve early detection, prevent complications, and improve the quality of primary health care services.
Specifically, the program aims to increase health workers capacity to identify and manage tropical diseases early in reproductive health care target groups, including pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and couples of childbearing age.
Furthermore, the program aims to increase public knowledge and awareness of the relationship between tropical diseases and reproductive health as well as strengthen the integrated referral and registration system at the community health center level.
Through a primary care-based approach and community empowerment, this activity is expected to produce an effective, sustainable, and replicable service model for other community health centers in endemic areas.
Although various public health and community service programs have been implemented to control tropical diseases and improve reproductive health, most remain isolated and sectoral.
Existing public health and community service (PkM) literature and practices generally position tropical diseases as infection control issues and reproductive health as the domain of maternal and family planning services without an integrative approach at the primary care level.
Furthermore, most PkM reports focus on education activities or health campaigns, with limited implementation of structured clinical screening directly linked to community health center (Puskesma.
service systems.
To date, there is limited evidence and operational models documenting how tropical disease screening can be systematically integrated into routine reproductive health services in Puskesmas, particularly in endemic areas such as North Sumatra.
This gap hinders the optimization of early prevention and reduction of the impact of tropical diseases on community reproductive health.
This community service program offers an innovative approach by integrating tropical disease screening directly into the reproductive health service flow at the community strata Berdasarkan daftar kunjungan dan data wilayah kerja puskesmas health center (Puskesma.
level, a strategy rarely implemented in primary healthcare practices in endemic areas.
Unlike conventional programs .
initial screening, which includes checking the medical history, symptoms of tropical infections, and reproductive health .
Health education regarding the relationship between tropical diseases and reproductive health .
Simple clinical and laboratory screening according to community health center standards to detect relevant tropical diseases .
Follow-up and referrals for participants with positive or high-risk screening results.
Detection, complication prevention, and quality of reproductive health in a sustainable manner.
Syahlis Irwandi.
Zaim Anshari,Mayang Sari Ayu.
Marlina Elfa Lubis.
Miftahul Mardiyah Although the Amplas Community Health Center (Puskesma.
operates in an area at high risk of tropical diseases, screening and treatment for these infections have not been systematically integrated into routine reproductive health services.
Pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and couples accessing antenatal, family planning, and adolescent health services often do not undergo early screening for tropical diseases that can potentially affect fertility, pregnancy, and delivery outcomes.
Consequently, various infections can remain undiagnosed leading to more severe clinical complications.
This situation is exacerbated by fragmented services, limited integrated referral channels, and suboptimal cross-program recording and education at the community health center level.
The absence of an operational model linking tropical disease control services with reproductive health services leads to missed opportunities for primary and secondary prevention, thereby increasing the risk of disease burden and reproductive health complications in the community.
This community service program aims to separate infectious disease control and reproductive health services and builds an integrated service model that connects early detection, education, record-keeping, and clinical referrals within a single, cohesive operational system.
This innovation not only strengthens the capacity of community health centers to address the risks of tropical diseases affecting reproductive health but also makes a significant contribution to the development of primary care-based health By producing a model that can be replicated and adapted to other community health centers in endemic areas, this Community Service Program has strong scientific and practical justification as a strategic effort to sustainably improve the quality of reproductive health and reduce the burden of tropical diseases.
METHOD
This community service activity employed a primary healthcare-based intervention design with pre- and post-intervention approaches .
retest-posttest desig.
The program focused on integrating tropical disease screening into routine reproductive health services at the Amplas Community Health Center in Medan.
This approach allowed for the evaluation of changes in knowledge, screening status, and service affordability before and after the program implementation.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This community service activity employed a primary healthcare-based intervention design with pre- and post-intervention approaches .
retest-posttest desig.
The program focused on integrating tropical disease screening into routine reproductive health services at the Amplas Community Health Center in Medan.
This approach allowed for the evaluation of changes in knowledge, screening status, and service affordability before and after the program implementation.
for both indicators, confirming the effectiveness of the integrated tropical disease screening model within community health center-based reproductive health services.
International Journal of Community Service, 5 .
, 2026, pp.
| 41
The program's implementation results indicated that integrating tropical disease screening into reproductive health services at the Amplas Community Health Center significantly improved the primary care system's ability to identify previously undetected reproductive health risks.
The high proportion of women of reproductive age with a history or symptoms of tropical diseases confirms that endemic infections are an important, yet largely overlooked, determinant of reproductive health.
The increased detection and referral coverage following the implementation of the integrated service model indicates that previous service fragmentation contributed to low levels of early diagnosis and preventive intervention.
These findings align with the theory of integrated primary healthcare, which emphasizes that combining services at a single point of care improves efficiency, continuity of care, and quality of health outcomes.
Therefore, the implemented integrated model not only improves service performance at the community health center level but also strengthens the promotive-preventive approach based on the primary health care system in tropical disease-endemic areas.
The results of this study demonstrate that integrating tropical disease screening into reproductive health services at the Amplas Community Health Center substantially improves the early detection of reproductive health risks in women of reproductive age.
The finding of a high proportion of participants with symptoms or a history of tropical diseases strengthens the theoretical framework that endemic infections are a significant biological determinant of fertility disorders, pregnancy complications, and maternal morbidity.
The increase in screening and referral coverage following the implementation of the integrated service model indicates that the previous service system was fragmented and unable to capture risks comprehensively.
Within the context of the integrated primary healthcare theory, these results can be interpreted as evidence that combined infectious disease surveillance and reproductive health services within a single further testing through larger, longitudinal studies.
CONCLUSION
This community service project demonstrates that integrating tropical disease screening into reproductive health services at the Amplas Community Health Center in North Sumatra is an effective and feasible approach for primary health care in endemic areas.
The developed integrated service model improves the early detection of tropical disease risk factors in women of reproductive age, strengthens the referral system, and enhances the capacity of health workers to provide more comprehensive preventive and promotive services.
These findings confirm that tropical diseases are important determinants of reproductive health and have not been optimally addressed owing to service fragmentation.
By integrating screening, education, and recordkeeping functions within a single community health center service flow, this program contributes not only to improving the quality of public health services but also to .
Syahlis Irwandi.
Zaim Anshari,Mayang Sari Ayu.
Marlina Elfa Lubis.
Miftahul Mardiyah strengthening the integrated primary healthcare framework in tropical disease endemic areas.
REFERENCES