Day: February 4, 2022

“No one is safe until everybody is save” is a jargon voiced by many that puts the spotlight on rampant politicization and discrimination over the availability of COVID-19 vaccines that is viewed as being inequitable.

The jargon offers an affirmation that the COVID-19 pandemic should be overcome by putting forward the principle of togetherness, so there would be no gap left for SARS-CoV-2 to harm humans.

One of the political figures who dared to voice the statement was Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin. On the Health Ministry’s official website, Sadikin stressed that all parties should work together to exit the pandemic since protecting the region and ensuring people’s safety is part of their responsibilities.

As Indonesia hosts the G20 Presidency in 2022, the minister believed that it is able to create a health system that can help future generations become more resilient to pandemics by transforming the health infrastructure in Indonesia and the world.

On the other hand, Griffith University epidemiologist Dicky Budiman remarked that for all health architecture to stand strong and stay sovereign amid the COVID-19 pandemic, all countries must help one another in addition to prioritizing leadership and risk communication strategies.

According to Budiman, great leadership and communication have brought Indonesia to rise from the grim scenario of a spike in Delta cases in 2021.

He explained that risk communication strategies can be used as an effective tool to develop a public understanding of pandemic conditions without expensive costs. It proved impactful in countries on the African continent where governments displayed the countries’ resilience to the pandemic through addressing issues that impact society, such as economic circumstances.

Inequality in COVID-19 handling

Entering the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global health resilience did not show any significant change. Many inequalities still occurred throughout the country, such as the expansion of vaccination coverage.

Budiman revealed that 20 percent of the developed countries, such as the United States, Australia, and Scandinavia, no longer had to be concerned about providing booster vaccine stocks for their people.

However, countries in developing countries, such as Indonesia, had to order vaccine stocks through lobbying efforts and diplomacy. Poor countries can only obtain vaccine donations from bilateral relations through the COVAX Facility.

The same view was also echoed by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani in her statement at a hotel in Rome, Italy, on October 30, 2021. Mulyani explained that the fact that some countries faced difficulties in procuring vaccine stocks had made the global economic recovery unbalanced.

Vaccination coverage in African countries was lower than the average vaccine coverage of poor countries. Vaccination in developed countries has reached above 70 percent and close to 100 percent.

This inequality revealed that the world was never ready for a global pandemic, she stated. As of February 4, 2022, over 388 million people have been affected by the virus, with the number of deaths already hitting more than 5.7 million.

University of Indonesia (UI) International Law Professor Hikmahanto Juwana, in a podcast interview with ANTARA, remarked that the role of Indonesia, as the host of the G20 presidency, brings both challenges and opportunities for the country.

In terms of challenges, Indonesia must deal with world health issues. However, if Indonesia can get through the situation well, it can become an opportunity that can bolster vaccination equality for all countries.

Juwana explained that if a country is left behind and does not get the COVID-19 vaccine stocks, then the world would not be able to come out of the pandemic period. Hence, he suggested that the vaccine stocks be distributed for free to countries facing difficulties.

Global Health System

During a virtual discussion with the Bandung Institute of Technology School of Business and Management (SBM ITB), Sadikin, stated that the world needs an institution that manages the global health system, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the economy.

He assessed that the existence of a system and funding, with mechanisms and governance systems supported by several countries, can help the world deal with pandemics that may occur any time in future.

During the G20 Presidency, there is an idea of the establishment of a “World Health Bank” for global security health. However, he believes it will not be easy, as it gives the impression that the existing institution, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), is not maximized.

“For instance, it often happens in a region that is supported financially, but its implementation is not effective and unequal, as there is no program that aims to enhance capacity. Incompetent human resources and unfit strategies are like throwing money into the sea,” he remarked.

The establishment of a new global institution must start from creating a fresh system where it requires significant amount of funds, roles, major responsibilities, and support.

Meanwhile, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, not all countries can give support due to the lack of funds, Budiman affirmed.

With Indonesia having assumed the 2022 G20 presidency, he remains optimistic that the government would firstly improve the architecture of global health resilience by sitting down with several nations’ representatives in the hopes of addressing overlapping in the system, thereby making it synergistic and strong.

He also remarked that if the World Bank Health is really intended to be realized, it would be better if the government incorporated it under the WHO.

Source: Antara News

The COVID-19 pandemic serves as an alarm for all parties to channel greater attention on health issues, including those related to medicine, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto stated.

“In the upcoming war, the threat to the nation will come in increasingly different forms, such as biological threat,” he noted through a press statement on Friday.

“Hence, the emergence of the pandemic serves as an alarm for us to pay more attention to medical problems,” he affirmed.

The health sector plays a crucial role in the success of an army.

“The presence of an health office and reliable health services supports soldiers across all terrains, be it land, sea, or air,” he elaborated.

To this end, he lauded the work of health workers that have fought on the frontlines against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subianto urged health workers in the Indonesian National Defense Force (TNI) hospitals to always maintain and take care of existing facilities.

“I should remind that these (facilities) are developed from the people’s money and efforts,” he remarked.

The Defense Ministry has consistently supported the TNI to improve its capacity and skills in the medical field, he stressed.

This support includes increasing the number of hospitals in main commandos and improving the facility of TNI hospitals for providing the best services to TNI soldiers and the general public.

On Thursday, the minister inaugurated a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Center at the Gatot Soebroto Army Central Hospital (RSPAD), here.

During the event, he inspected the condition and readiness of the MRI center that will be useful to produce detailed anatomic structure images that could help doctors to diagnose patients.

Source: Antara News

The government is committed to expanding the socialization of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) immunization as a concrete step towards expediting efforts to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said.

“Based on the 2016 recommendation of the National Immunization Expert Advisory Committee on the HPV vaccine, the government, through the Health Ministry, has conducted demonstration programs on HPV immunization since 2016. From 2020 to 2024, there will be demonstrations of the provision of HPV immunization in nine pilot provinces,” he informed during a webinar on World Cancer Day on Friday.

The expansion of the HPV immunization program is important since cervical cancer has become the second-highest cause of death among women in Indonesia, with cervical cancer accounting for 36,633 or 9.2 percent of the total cancer cases, he said.

The high mortality rate from cervical cancer is due to low early detection, recorded at just 8.29 percent, the minister informed.

“Currently, cervical cancer can be prevented through HPV immunization and early detection,” Sadikin noted.

Meanwhile, coordinator of immunization substances at the Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Health Ministry, Iqbal Djakaria, said immunizations were carried out during the Students’ Immunization Month (BIAS), with free first doses provided to female students in the fifth grade of elementary school and second doses to sixth grade students.

To reach targets outside of school, immunization could be carried out at Integrated Health Service Posts (Posyandu), Community Health Centers (Puskesmas), and other health service facilities, he said.

“Immunization can also be carried out outside schools such as at shelters, orphanages, and other places,” he suggested.

He said that in 2022, HPV vaccine socialization will be expanded in 131 districts and cities and target 889,813 children. In 2023, 131 districts and cities and 1,433,581 children will be targeted under the effort, he added.

“By God’s willing, later in 2024, it will cover all regions in Indonesia,” he added.

These efforts are expected to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer to 4 cases per 100 thousand population per year by 2030, he informed.

Source: Antara News

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil has urged all hospitals in the province to implement alert level 1 amid the increasing bed occupancy rate (BOR) for COVID-19 patients.

“I have instructed all hospitals to implement alert level 1 because the BOR is increasing,” Kamil noted in his official statement here on Friday.

The governor remarked that the alert level should be implemented by increasing the number of patient beds, oxygen cylinders, and medicine availability.

“Increase (the number of) beds and prepare oxygen as well as the treatment,” he remarked.

He explained that the level 1 alert is implemented, especially in agglomeration areas, such as Bogor, Depok, Bekasi, and Greater Bandung, as those regions recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 cases.

“We are encouraging hospitals in those agglomeration areas to be prepared,” he remarked.

By quoting Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Kamil noted that the Omicron variant is more transmissible, but the patients would recover quicker in around three to four days.

To this end, he urged people, who had contracted the Omicron variant and were experiencing mild symptoms, to conduct self-isolation at home with adequate supervision and medicine availability.

He noted that treatment at hospitals is prioritized for patients with severe symptoms. He added that treatment outside hospitals would positively impact the bed occupancy in hospitals.

The governor appealed to the community to continue to comply with the health protocols in conducting their activities over the lack of certainty regarding when the pandemic will end.

“Health protocols must not be ignored, so that we do not lose to the pandemic that has not ended,” he remarked.

He highlighted the importance of alertness while stressing that the people, should not underestimate the virus transmission.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data provided by the task force, as of February 4, 2022, at least 4,446,694 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,161,987 people have recovered, and 144,453 people have succumbed to the virus.

Source: Antara News