Year: 2021

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative, Ann Mayman, expressed hope that refugees in Indonesia would have access to health insurance.

“To support UNHCR’s steps in providing protection, later on, the refugees will also be encouraged to get access to healthcare insurance in Indonesia,” Mayman said as quoted in the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) press release received here, Friday.

At an online meeting with Director of BPJS Kesehatan Ali Ghufron Mukti, Mayman conveyed that Indonesia was among the recipient countries for asylum seekers, thereby making it a stopover location for refugees.

As of September 2021, some 13,273 refugees spread across several parts of Indonesia needed protection, including healthcare insurance, Mayman stated.

However, UNHCR Senior Protection Officer Julia Zajkowski pointed to a dilemma in the efforts to provide healthcare insurance to refugees in Indonesia.

On one hand, Indonesia’s regulation stipulates that foreign nationals who can avail the National Health Insurance (JKN) program are those that have worked for six months in Indonesia, but in reality, the refugees cannot even get a job in an asylum country.

BPJS Kesehatan Director Ali Ghufron Mukti also highlighted the need to provide protection, including healthcare insurance, to refugees staying in the Indonesian territory.

Nevertheless, in accordance with Presidential Regulation Number 82 of 2018 on Health Insurance, healthcare insurance is available for all, including foreigners, who have worked for a minimum of six months in Indonesia with a paid subscription, Mukti expounded.

Hence, further coordination and consultation with relevant ministries and institutions is deemed necessary to determine the mechanism for providing health insurance to refugees under the auspices of UNHCR.

Mukti lauded UNHCR’s efforts to increase protection for refugees, who have fled to Indonesia, and ensure that they receive fair treatment.

“Those who cannot get protection rights in their home countries need to be given attention to be able to have the same security and social protection rights,” he added.

Source: Antara News

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, went to Kendari city, Southeast Sulawesi, on Friday, and met with 27 children whose parents died due to COVID-19.

During the visit, which took place at the Kendari Mayor’s Office, Muhadjir provided an assistance package containing school supplies to the children.

“The government guarantees (the welfare of) children whose parents have left them due to COVID, especially the cost of education, through the assistance of the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP),” Effendy said.

He requested the Kendari city government to list the orphans as recipients of the Smart Indonesia Card in their respective schools.

“Not only for elementary, middle, and high school students, including students who are about to enter college. I also ask that the orphans receive the PKH program through their guardians because PKH is based on the head of the family, but their parents are no longer here,” he said.

He emphasized that the government must be present as a guide for orphaned children. It is not limited to just the needs of education, but also other basic needs.

He also urged the public to always adhere to health protocols every day in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19.

“We must not be careless with the current conditions, we must remain vigilant by always following the health protocols,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kendari Mayor H Sulkarnain Kadir said that his administration will try to register all children orphaned by COVID-19up to the junior high school level so they can become Smart Indonesia Card recipients. It was the municipal government’s authority to propose the initiative, he said.

“We will also try for high school, including Smart Indonesia Card for students who will go to college. Thank God, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture is very enthusiastic, he is very supportive so that all orphans get Smart Indonesia Card until they go to college,” he said. (

Source: Antara News

Head of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) Daeng M. Faqih affirmed that digital technology played a crucial role in helping doctors serve patients amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Since the start of the pandemic, the IDI has continued to urge doctors to reduce face-to-face services. However, services for patients must continue to run by using complete personal protective equipment,” Faqih noted at the National Doctor’s Day Special HaloTalks event monitored through the Zoom application here, Friday.

The IDI head remarked that the number of doctors available in Indonesia currently reached 196 thousand. Of the total doctors spread across the country, 40 thousand are specialists, four thousand are internal medicine doctors, and two thousand are pulmonary specialists.

According to Faqih, the limited number of doctors is further complicated by the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has protracted for almost two years.

“The lack of specialist physicians (for COVID-19 patients) has posed an obstacle in handling COVID-19. Finally, it was agreed that other specialists might treat COVID-19 (patients) as long as they have been trained,” Faqih noted.

Hence, he assessed that digital technology had successfully provided broader access for patients and helped ensure safety for doctors in the midst of the pandemic.

“The developments and benefits of telemedicine are extraordinary, right from helping expedite vaccinations to providing self-isolation services,” the IDI head noted.

Without the help of technology, it would be impossible to do such things, especially with the large number of COVID-19 patients and the limited number of health workers and health facilities available, he noted.

“Indonesia has a very wide area. Hence, access to health must be opened as wide as possible, and telemedicine is the answer,” he remarked.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as of October 22, 2021, at least 4,238,594 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,080,351 people recovered, and 143,153 people succumbed to the deadly virus.

Source: Antara News

The number of Indonesians who have been completed both doses of the COVID-19 vaccines reached 66.31 million as of 12 p.m. local time on Friday, the COVID-19 Task Force reported.

As per data received from the task force here on Friday, the number of people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 increased by 1,143,519 on Friday to reach 66,316,667.

The number of recipients of the first dose of vaccine increased by 1,089,264 to reach 111,496,041, it said.

The number of third doses administered in the country increased by 8,266 to touch 1,092,871, it said.

Overall, the government is aiming to inoculate 208,265,720 million people.

The first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has been given to 53.53 percent of the total 208,265,720 citizens targeted by the COVID-19 vaccination program, the task force reported.

Citizens who have finished undergoing vaccinations account for just 31.84 percent of the total target, it said.

Meanwhile, spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccinations at the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the elderly believe vaccines can trigger comorbidities, but that notion is wrong.

“Then why is the vaccination coverage not according to our expectations? (Because) there is still a misconception among the elderly that (people) their age should not get the vaccine, because there will be more side-effects later,” she elaborated.

She said vaccinations among the elderly are still an issue that need to be addressed immediately. Currently, only 7.8 million people have received the first vaccination dose and only 4.9 million people have received the second dose of the total 21.5 million elderly people targeted by the vaccination program.

“This means that only 33 percent received protection from the first dose of vaccination. As for the complete dose, only 22 percent have received it,” she said.

Earlier, the government had said that it is working to increase vaccination coverage among Indonesians. Initially, it was aiming for a 70-percent vaccination rate, but it has since been pushed to 80 percent and needs to be met by the end of 2021.

Source: Antara News