Day: December 27, 2021

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Monday said that he wants Indonesia to stop importing medical devices, medicines, and raw materials for medicines.

He conveyed this sentiment at the groundbreaking of the Bali International Hospital in Denpasar, Bali province. .

Jokowi urged staff to start producing medical devices, medicines, and raw materials for medicines with domestic industry players.

“We want to stop importing medical devices, medicines, and raw materials for medicines. We hope to produce them in our country,” the President remarked.

Meanwhile, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir said that to suppress imports of raw materials for medicines, PT Indofarma will focus on developing the herbal industry.

Indonesia has natural and cultural endowments that can support the development of the herbal industry, the minister added.

“We have our own herbal industry with the support from our culture and nature. Therefore, Indofarma will focus on developing the herbal industry rather than treatment,” he said.

Currently, the SOEs Ministry is consolidating health SOE clusters to create an ecosystem that can strengthen health resilience and independence in Indonesia, he informed.

“We know that this ecosystem is the key. If we do not consolidate, we will work alone and will not be able to withstand the challenges that occur in the future,” Thohir explained.

The SOEs Ministry has also merged Bio Farma as a holding company that oversees Kimia Farma, Indofarma, and a number of hospitals under the Indonesia Healthcare Corporation (IHC), he noted. Bio Farma is expected to open new opportunities in the health industry, such as the vaccination industry, he added.

“Therefore, we are trying to work with various parties, whether it is on an mRNA vaccine or a recombinant protein (vaccine), which we are still exploring,” he informed.

Bio Farma also began clinical trials for vaccines on December 13, 2021, he noted. With the start of the clinical trial, Thohir said he hoped that Indonesia would be able to produce vaccines independently in 2022.

“Of course, we hope that with (the successful conclusion of) three stages of clinical trials, we can suppress vaccine imports in 2022. We are ready to produce 77 million doses of the (COVID-19) vaccine for the initial step, starting from July next year,” he informed.

Source: Antara News

The health special economic zone (SEZ) in Sanur Village, Denpasar City, Bali Province, can become a research center to improve the quality of the sector in Indonesia, State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir stated.

The minister noted that it will be Indonesia’s pioneering health SEZ. The integrated health facility will be built on 41.5 hectares of land owned by the ministry.

“Hence, we will collaborate with several international universities and hospitals. Thus, not only health services will be provided but research activities will also be conducted,” the minister remarked at the Sanur Tourism Area, Denpasar City, Bali Province, on Monday.

Thohir noted that taking into account the fact that two million Indonesians go abroad for treatment annually, the country should improve health services in accordance with international standards, so that it can also boost the tourism and investment sectors.

In addition to an international hospital, there will also be a healing park.

“The healing process is not only conducted medically but also spiritually. On account of the bountiful nature, we will also build areas for yoga, relaxing walks, and other rehabilitation activities. Thus, the treatment can be performed sustainably,” Thohir affirmed.

Earlier, President Jokowi Widodo led the groundbreaking ceremony of the Bali International Hospital. He expressed optimism that establishment of the hospital would make Bali Province a health tourism destination.

Source: Antara News

The central government has urged regional government stakeholders to stringently enforce the health protocols in response to an increasing trend in coronavirus infections in 10 provinces.

It has also urged the public to remain cautious and disciplined in implementing the health protocols, even during vacation.

“Around 10 provinces are experiencing an increasing case trend, which are West Java, Central Java, East Java, Jakarta, Riau Islands, East Nusa Tenggara, Jambi, North Kalimantan, Banten, and South Sulawesi,” Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate said in a statement issued on Monday.

To prevent cases from spreading to other regions, the minister asked stakeholders at the regional government-level to utilize the PeduliLindungi application and optimally monitor its use.

Plate made the request based on the results of an evaluation conducted by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

It has been observed that public mobility has increased at the end of the year, specifically in Java and Bali, and especially in tourism and transit locations, he noted.

In addition, the COVID-19 Task Force has recorded a much higher mobility level in Nusa Tenggara and Papua compared to even before the pandemic, he informed.

“The government urges the people to reduce their mobility while also maintaining the health protocols,” Plate said.

The government is also committed to continued monitoring of people’s mobility during the New Year holiday, he added.

“The government continues to conduct monitoring and prevention so that there will be no spike in COVID-19 cases during the New Year holiday,” Plate remarked.

The government has restricted public travel for the entire Christmas and New Year holiday period to curb the spread of infections.

Under the holiday regulations, only vaccinated people have been allowed to travel during the period from December 24, 2021, to January 2, 2022.

Source: Antara News

A patient, confirmed positive for Omicron and who reportedly escaped from a quarantine facility, had tested negative based on a comparison test, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated.

“We saw that one woman had arrived from England. She had tested positive the first time,” the minister noted at a press conference here on Monday.

Sadikin recalled that the patient had requested for a comparative test to reaffirm the results. “It is possible (to take a second test). The test result came negative,” he remarked.

On that basis, the patient then requested to leave the quarantine facility to undergo self-isolation at home, he explained.

“The request was then conveyed to the Jakarta Health Office. They said it could be done, though she must be isolated at home, and coincidentally, the house can be used for isolation,” he remarked.

Five days later, the test results stated that the woman was positive for Omicron.

“Hence, we are chasing the woman in question again. We (also) tested her family again, and it turned out to be negative,” he remarked.

According to Sadikin, the incident served as a lesson for the Health Ministry that pushed them to change the regulations regarding the COVID-19 comparison test.

“We will change it. If the (first) test result is positive and the second is negative, then there will be a third test. If the third test comes negative, only then it means it is negative. If it is positive, then they must be quarantined at the center,” Sadikin emphasized.

The Omicron variant entered Indonesia a while ago. It was first detected in a staff at the Kemayoran Athlete Village’s Hospital, with other probable cases coming from some citizens, who recently arrived from overseas travel and foreign nationals, who visited Indonesia.

Although data from other countries showed that Omicron did not cause as much deaths as its Delta counterpart, the government is still amping up preventive measures, such as imposing stricter security at national borders, calling for more testing and tracing, and expediting vaccination to meet the national target.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, had implored people to spend their vacation time at domestic tourist attractions in order to thwart the surfacing of new Omicron cases as well as to enjoy the local scenery that was no less beautiful than those of foreign tourist attractions.

Source: Antara News

Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian has said that regions can apply a micro lockdown if they detect COVID-19 transmission during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Micro lockdowns were, in fact, implemented during previous community mobility restriction (PPKM) periods, namely under the micro PPKM regulation, he informed.

“If the task force and local government find case transmission in their respective area, they can implement micro lockdowns in local neighborhoods (RT/RW),” he advised here on Monday.

People affected by micro lockdowns will receive assistance during the implementation of the lockdowns, Karnavian said.

“Of course, we will help them with all kinds of social assistance while trying to curb the spread of COVID-19 in their area. We have conveyed this to all regional heads so they can re-activate the micro-lockdown regulation,” the minister informed.

Karnavian explained that the implementation of micro lockdowns or micro PPKM will be supervised to the level of the smallest regional administration, including RT/RW (neighborhood).

“Previously, we only had task forces at the district level. We tried to provide COVID-19 task forces at the sub-district, village, and even RT/RW level,” he said.

The COVID-19 handling task force at the village level is supported by village supervision officers (Babinsa), Community Security and Order Enforcement (Babinkamtibmas) officers, and community leaders, he informed.

“They carry out surveillance in their respective region. Their duties start from prevention, campaigning for health protocols, identifying suspected COVID-19 patients, providing assistance to patients undergoing isolation, taking patients to the hospital, and if a case is found in the area, they can conduct a lockdown,” Karnavian said.

Earlier, in response to the news of a patient escaping quarantine at Wisma Atlet Jakarta, deputy at the Presidential Staff Office (KSP), Abetnego Tarigan, had said that the government’s plan to apply a micro-lockdown policy to slow down the potential spread of the Omicron variant in the country would be an effective strategy.

“Micro lockdown is considered as an effective policy,” he noted.

Source: Antara News

A research professor of earthquake and disaster geology at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, has urged the public to not believe in hoaxes on earthquake predictions.

“Please, do not be affected by hoaxes about the threat of earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. Until now, we have not been able to predict (disasters); we can ascertain that anyone (who says that they can predict disasters) is a hoax (perpetrator),” Natawidjaja, who is a researcher with the Earth Science Research Organization of BRIN, remarked at a webinar on ‘Year-end Reflection: Scientifically Reading Disasters in Indonesia in 2021’ here on Monday.

Even across the world, there is no method for predicting the exact time an earthquake will happen, he said.

According to Natawidjaja, what the related parties can do is mitigate disasters by studying the earthquake sources or fault lines, the magnitude of the earthquake, and the risk of its effects. Therefore, through mitigation, the damage of a quake can be reduced, he explained.

Therefore, earthquake and volcano research in Indonesia, which is still minimal, needs to be made massive, systematic, integrated, and comprehensive nationally, he said. Meanwhile, for tsunamis, the risks need to be mapped out at the regional level and on a detailed scale, he added.

Natawidjaja said it is necessary and important to pinpoint tsunami danger zones to avoid them.

“If they cannot be avoided, then every community is responsible to understand and know the evacuation routes,” he added.

In addition to creating tsunami maps, other tsunami mitigation measures are tsunami-safe spatial planning, creating evacuation routes and emergency plans, and conducting community education and training, assisted by a tsunami early warning system (TEWS), he said.

“TEWS should not be a main single tool because it is just a supporting instrument for mitigating disasters,” he explained.

Furthermore, he said, future TEWS should be developed based on state-of-the-art knowledge and technology.

Source: Antara News