Semarang, November 28, 2024 – November is the month to commemorate Heroes' Day, which falls on November 10 each year, and ASTON Inn Pandanaran Semarang held a series of social activities to celebrate this occasion.
The first social activity was ASTON Inn Pandanaran Semarang’s support and participation in the poverty alleviation program for underprivileged citizens, stunting, pregnant women, and persons with disabilities launched by the Semarang city government. As part of this program, Aston Inn Pandanaran Semarang provided basic food packages, including rice, to the Semarang Tengah district, which were directly received by the Head of Semarang Tengah Subdistrict, Mr. Anciato Magno Da Silva.
The next activity was a blood donation drive organized by ASTON Inn Pandanaran Semarang in cooperation with PMI (Indonesian Red Cross) Semarang on Friday, November 22, 2024, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Athena Room. With the theme "Save a Life, Be a Hero," we invited donors, not only from the surrounding community but also from in-house guests, including MICE meeting participants and hotel guests, as well as worshippers from the Al Fitri Mosque who had just finished Friday prayers, along with the hotel staff. This event aimed to help the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) address the blood supply shortage and encourage the community to participate in donating blood to save lives. It also emphasized that modern-day heroes don't have to fight against enemies—by donating blood, they can save lives.
The final activity was a collaboration between ASTON Inn Pandanaran Semarang and Puskesmas Bulu Lor to conduct an HPV DNA CO TESTING for early cervical cancer detection on Thursday, November 28, 2024, which was attended by both hotel staff and the general public. This event combined HPV DNA testing (to detect the presence of the HPV virus) with IVA (Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid) testing (for detecting pre-cancerous lesions).
The benefits of this test for women include early detection of HPV infections and abnormal cell changes that could develop into cervical cancer. The high accuracy of this combination test (Pap smear and HPV DNA) offers more accurate results than performing either test alone. Additionally, this approach reduces the need for repeated tests, as the results are more precise, and early preventive measures can be taken if HPV infection is found to prevent the development into cancer.
"Commemorating Heroes' Day this year, we are very proud to carry out a series of social activities, starting with providing food aid for the poverty alleviation program in Semarang, blood donations, and HPV DNA CO TESTING. Particularly for the HPV DNA CO TESTING program, we are very concerned about women, as cervical cancer is the leading cause of death among women in Indonesia. Therefore, we want the community to be able to detect it early through HPV DNA CO TESTING," said Ibnoe Ichwan Chambali, General Manager of Aston Inn Pandanaran Semarang.