March 1, 2022 – Page 2 – Indonesia News Gazette

March 1, 2022

Bright Peak Therapeutics Appoints Leena Gandhi, M.D., Ph.D., to its Board of Directors

SAN DIEGO and BASEL, Switzerland, Feb. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bright Peak Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing next-generation cytokine immunotherapies to treat cancer and autoimmune disease, today announced that it has appointed Leena Gandhi, M.D., Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Gandhi is a distinguished physician-scientist with a focus on cancer immunotherapy and early drug development, and currently serves as the Director of the Clinical Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI).

“It is a pleasure to welcome Dr. Gandhi to the Board. She is a renowned immuno-oncologist and widely recognized as a clinical investigator for her track record of bringing important medical breakthroughs to patients,” said Fredrik Wiklund, President and CEO of Bright Peak Therapeutics. “Her clinical insights and development experience will be highly valuable to Bright Peak as we continue to advance our emerging product portfolio. We look forward to working with her.”

“I’m delighted to join Bright Peak as a Board member and I look forward to working with the other Directors and the company’s executive leadership to contribute to Bright Peak’s mission of bringing innovative cytokine immunotherapies to patients,” said Dr. Gandhi.

Dr. Leena Gandhi received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and her M.D. from New York University prior to completing postgraduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital and at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She was a thoracic oncologist working in Early Drug Development at DFCI until 2016 when she moved to NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center to serve as the Director of Thoracic Medical Oncology. She has focused her research on novel drug development and biomarkers for selection in lung cancer with a particular focus on immuno-oncology. She led pivotal studies demonstrating the utility of PDL1 as a biomarker for efficacy of anti-PD1 agents in lung cancer and studies demonstrating the value of combining immunotherapy and chemotherapy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. She served as Vice President of Immuno-Oncology Development at Eli Lilly leading the development of novel immuno-oncology agents across cancer types and returned to DFCI in 2020 as the Director of the Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation, an integrated clinical/translational research center that brings together specialized cancer expertise to develop and conduct innovative early phase clinical trials spanning multiple malignancies.

About Bright Peak Therapeutics

Bright Peak is a privately held biotechnology company based in San Diego, USA and Basel, Switzerland dedicated to creating next-generation cytokine immunotherapies for the treatment of patients with cancer and autoimmune disease. Bright Peak is pioneering a novel technology to chemically synthesize and conjugate enhanced cytokines to a diverse array of molecules, such as monoclonal antibodies, creating a novel class of “Bright Peak Immunocytokines”. Bright Peak is funded by a syndicate of leading healthcare investors.

Contact:
info@brightpeaktx.com

March 1, 2022

Washington Association of School Administrators and Solution Tree Partner in Statewide Project to Ensure Equity, High-Quality Instruction for All Students

Bloomington, Ind., Feb. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) and Solution Tree have established a partnership to develop and expand the Professional Learning Communities at Work® process within Washington state schools. WASA began the PLC at Work project with Solution Tree in 2021 with an inaugural cohort or group of participating school districts, including: Bremerton School District, Cheney School District, Cle Elum-Roslyn School District, Ellensburg School District, Granger School District, Kalama School District, Longview School District, Mead School District, Meridian School District, Monroe School District, Mount Adams School District, Muckleshoot Tribal Schools, Ocosta School District, Pullman School District, Rochester School District, Vancouver School District, Washougal School District, Wenatchee School District, and West Valley School District.
Active recruitment is currently underway for new school districts to participate in cohort two, which begins in August.
Cohorts commit to three years of intensive professional development designed for district leaders to engage deeply in the PLC at Work process, which is based on three big ideas:
1. A focus on learning
2. A collaborative culture and collective responsibility
3. A results orientation or evidence of student learning As implementation progresses, entire school systems learn to work collaboratively to address issues of equity and ensure that all students learn at high levels. PLC at Work operates under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators. “Despite the heroic efforts of educators throughout the state, the inequities present in our systems seemed to be exacerbated by the pandemic,” stated Joel Aune, executive director of WASA. “Virtual learning, and our need to adapt quickly, revealed that all students didn’t have access to the same high-quality education. Through the WASA PLC at Work Project, we are intentional that learning efforts are targeted and result in a positive impact for all students. The goal of the project is to assist districts in Washington to work smarter, not harder.” Washington educators in the first cohort who are currently implementing the PLC at Work process are enthusiastic about the results they see. “We just finished up a five-day cycle of intervening on math concepts that kids didn’t learn the first time,” shared Mike Stark, a principal in the Cheney School District. “What we’re finding is that just that investment of five days of intervention is reducing the number of kids who need support by more than 50 percent.” Solution Tree president Ed Ackerman firmly believes in the impact this work will have on students throughout Washington. “We have data to illustrate the success of the PLC at Work project in other states,” said Ackerman. “I am inspired by the commitment of Washington educators involved in this project. Solution Tree is eager to expand this pivotal work when our second cohort begins in August.” District and school leaders who want to learn more about how they can take advantage of this opportunity should contact Solution Tree.
About Washington Association of School Administrators
The Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) is an organization for professional administrators that is committed to leadership in providing equity and excellence in student learning and developing competent, ethical, and visionary leaders. WASA’s membership includes more than 1,900 members and is open to all educational administrators in central office, building management, and educational agency positions. About Solution Tree
For more than 20 years, Solution Tree (https://www.solutiontree.com) has worked to transform education worldwide, empowering educators to raise student achievement. With more than 50,000 educators attending professional development conferences and more than 6,000 professional learning days in schools each year, Solution Tree helps teachers and administrators confront essential challenges. Solution Tree has a catalog of more than 515 titles, hundreds of videos and online courses and is the creator of Global PD, an online tool that facilitates the work of teachers and educators participating in professional learning communities. Follow @SolutionTree on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

For WASA
Mike Nelson
mnelson@wasa-oly.org
253.508.0192 

For Solution Tree
Erica Dooley-Dorocke
Erica.Dooley-Dorocke@SolutionTree.com
800.733.6786 ext. 247

March 1, 2022

Vice minister underscores importance of waste handling for tourism

Waste handling is one of the crucial factors for sustainable tourism, especially those relying on natural beauty, Vice Minister of Environment and Forestry Alue Dohong stated.

“One of the development pillars of sustainable tourism is to develop tourism while continuing environmental conservation efforts, so that tourism activities will not have negative impacts in the form of pollution and environmental destruction,” Dohong said at a webinar held to discuss sustainable tourism destinations through waste management on Tuesday.

Nature tourism relies on panoramic beauty as well as the cleanliness and authenticity of nature, according to him.

If these factors are non-existent owing to mismanagement that leads to pollution, among others, then this form of tourism would no longer be sustainable.

To this end, environmental conservation is one of the strategic factors for tourism managers, whether they come from the government, state-owned enterprise, or the private sector, he affirmed.

Dohong pointed out that heaps of waste, specifically plastic, were often found in tourism destinations.

If waste is not handled well, then visitors would be hesitant to come, as beauty is one factor that draws tourists.

The problem of waste in tourism destinations is also mirrored in the survey in 2016 conducted by the Environment and Forestry Ministry along with the nature-loving community.

The survey shows the presence of 453 tons of waste in eight natural tourism destinations.

Some 150 thousand visitors produced 453 tons of waste out of which 240 tons were of plastic waste that pollute the natural ecosystem.

“This is despite the fact that we fully know that waste is the enemy of the tourism world, as tourism destinations filled with trash will immediately be abandoned by their visitors,” the vice minister remarked.

To this end, he ensured that the government continues to pay serious attention to handling the issue of waste, including for five super priority tourism destinations that the government had determined.

Source: Antara News

March 1, 2022

Low rubella immunization rate puts babies at risk of deafness

Head of the Association of Otorhinolaryngologists, Jenny Bashiruddin, cited the low rate of rubella immunization in some areas as a factor that increases the risk of babies being born deaf.

“Several years ago, the Health Ministry had urged (people to partake in) rubella vaccination. However, it turns out that the coverage is still small in some areas,” Bashiruddin stated at the 2022 World Hearing Day Media Gathering as seen here on Tuesday.

Bashiruddin noted that one of the factors that could cause a baby to be born with defects, such as being congenitally deaf, was the low rate of rubella immunization. In Indonesia, the number of babies born deaf was one in every one thousand births.

Babies exposed to toxoplasma and herpes could also experience deafness. Thus, efforts to proffer basic immunization to children must be extended immediately, so that the government could prevent congenital hearing loss in children.

“We are concerned (over the possibility) that congenital deafness may occur. Hence, vaccination is necessary to prevent this congenital hearing loss,” she noted.

Acting Director of Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases at the Health Ministry, Elvieda Sariwati, stated that low birth weight among babies was also a contributing factor to deafness in newborn children.

Babies born with low weight must be monitored to ascertain their conditions, and regular health checks should be conducted within a period of up to six months from their day of birth in order to find whether the infant had congenital deafness.

Sariwati stated that Indonesia was ranked third in Asia in terms of low birth weight among babies. Having low birth weight puts a baby at risk of congenital deafness, she noted.

Source: Antara News

March 1, 2022

Tourist visits jump 13.42% yoy in Jan: BPS

The number of foreign tourist visits increased by 13.62 percent in January 2022 compared to the year-ago period to reach 143,740, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reported.

“However, the number declined by 12.15 percent compared to the number of foreign tourist visits in December 2021,” deputy for distribution and service statistics at BPS, Setianto, informed at a virtual press conference here on Tuesday.

In January 2022, 14,560 foreign visitors arrived by aircraft, 34,800 by ship, and 94,390 by land, he said.

The number of foreign tourist visitors using air routes surged by 740.84 percent yoy in January this year, he added.

A significant increase was recorded in foreign tourist arrivals at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang city, Banten province, he said. The number of visits jumped by 1,036.75 percent from 1,238 visits in January 2021 to 14,073 visits in January 2022, he added.

The increase in the number of foreign visitors at Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport, Jakarta, and Sam Ratulangi Airport, Manado city, North Sulawesi province, was pegged at 60 percent and 7.62 percent, respectively, Setianto said.

Meanwhile, no foreign tourist arrivals were recorded at other airports in January 2022, he added.

However, the total number of foreign tourists arriving by air fell 18.17 percent compared to December 2021, he said.

Based on the nationality, the number of visitors from Africa and Europe in January 2022 experienced a significant increase of 305.97 percent and 239.70 percent yoy, respectively, he added.

Meanwhile, the number of travelers from Southeast Asian countries fell by 4.22 percent yoy, he said.

The visits were dominated by East Timorese tourists (76.5 thousand visits or 53.22 percent), Malaysian tourists (42 thousand visits or 29.21 percent), Chinese tourists (3.4 thousand visits or 2.36 percent), Papua New Guinean tourists (3 thousand visits or 2.10 percent), and American tourists (1.8 thousand visits or 1.22 percent), he added.

Source: Antara News

March 1, 2022

Jakarta must remain alert for COVID-19 uptick: official

The Regional House of Representatives has urged the Jakarta government to pay closer attention to the increase in daily COVID-19 cases.

Chairman of the Regional House of Representatives, Prasetyo Edi Marsudi, said on Tuesday that the trend of daily cases in Jakarta is inversely proportional to the national rate.

Every day, Jakarta is recording additional cases, bucking the national trend, he noted.

“Thank God, COVID-19 in the country has shown a downward trend on the past few days before the long holiday from February 26–28, 2022. But (that was not the case) for Jakarta. The daily cases have actually increased compared to the previous days. This should be our concern,” Marsudi said in a post on his Instagram account @prasetyoedimarsudi.

Citing data indicating a declining trend in national daily cases, he said that the number of cases declined from 61,488 on February 23, 2022, to 57,426 on February 24.

They continued to fall to reach 49,447 on February 25, and then further declined to 46,643 on February 26 and 34,976 on February 27, he informed.

“And last time, on February 28, it (the daily tally) again decreased significantly to 25,054 cases,” he highlighted.

In contrast, Jakarta experienced an increase in COVID-19 cases, with the number of daily cases reaching 7,300 on February 28, he pointed out.

The capital recorded 3,957 cases on February 27, 4,675 cases on February 26, and 4,524 cases on February 2, he said.

Although the rate of increase needs to be watched out for, people must not panic, he said adding that he is confident that the pandemic can be controlled by consistently following the health protocols in a disciplined manner. The adherence to safety measures must be implemented every day as a means to rejuvenate the economy as well, he added.

Marsudi said he expects collective efforts to help bring the pandemic to an end.

On February 28, the number of coronavirus patients in Indonesia increased by 25,054, taking the total active cases to 5,564,448.

Meanwhile, 43,992 patients recovered from the virus, bringing total recoveries to 4,861,415.

With 262 patients succumbing to the infection, the total death toll reached 148,335.

Source: Antara News

March 1, 2022

Hearing aid supply fails to meet global needs: Health Ministry

The current number of hearing aids could not meet the needs of all deaf patients worldwide, according to the Health Ministry.

“Hearing loss is the fourth leading cause of disability. The impact of hearing loss or deafness is very broad and severe,” the ministry’s Director General of Disease Prevention and Control Maxi Rein Rondonuwu stated during the 2022 World Hearing Day Media Gathering on Tuesday.

Rondonuwu noted that hearing loss could impede a person’s cognitive, psychological, and social development. Thus, the quality of human resources had decreased on a global scale.

He cited data from The World Report on Hearing 2021 that showed 1.5 percent of the world’s population suffered from hearing loss, 430 million of which required rehabilitation services for bilateral hearing loss.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also estimated that 20 percent of the people with hearing loss require hearing aids.

Unfortunately, the devices produced to date could only meet 10 percent of the needs globally. In fact, it only fulfills three percent of the needs of patients in a developing country. This means the patients’ access to these items was still limited.

Data from the 2019 Social Health Disability Management Information System detailed that people with deafness constituted seven percent of the total citizens with disabilities.

“On the other hand, the global prevalence of moderate to severe hearing loss increases (as people get older. The rate goes up by 12.7 percent at the age of 60 years. (It could go up to) more than 58 percent by the age of 90 years,” he revealed.

Rondonuwu cautioned that in the absence of appropriate countermeasures in the era where information technology is developing at a rapid pace, the number of people affected by hearing loss will increase, not to mention contributing factors, such as a noisy workplace, congenital diseases, or new habits that people have developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as using headsets.

Thus, he expects that the needs of all people with hearing impairments or deafness, both in Indonesia or globally, could be met.

He is also upbeat about hearing loss being prevented since childbirth through balanced nutrition.

Source: Antara News

March 1, 2022

6.1 M-quake refugees with undamaged houses should return home: BMKG

Head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati appealed to the 6.1-magnitude (M) quake refugees in West Pasaman District, West Sumatra Province, to return to their homes if their buildings are undamaged.

“The magnitude of the aftershocks is getting weaker. We ensure the public to not be worried about the quakes anymore,” Karnawati remarked during an online press conference on Tuesday.

The agency head stated that until now, more than 160 aftershocks were recorded after the main 6.1 M earthquake that rattled the district.

However, only six aftershocks were sensed by the people since most of the shocks were of a small magnitude, so they were not felt by the community.

According to the BMKG head, the condition of the Sumatran fault that triggered the earthquake has been more stable, considering the declining magnitude of the aftershocks.

Thus, Karnawati urged residents, whose houses were still intact, to return home instead of staying in refugee camps.

“At the crowded refugee camps, they are vulnerable to being exposed to COVID-19 since we are still in the midst of the pandemic,” she stated.

Furthermore, she advised the people, who are still reluctant to stay inside their homes due to the aftershocks, to set up a tent in their house yard.

The agency has also coordinated with local social and health offices to ready psychosocial service for the refugees.

“We will coordinate with the local government to offer trauma healing,” Karnawati added.

After a 6.1-M earthquake struck West Pasaman District on February 25, 2022, the BMKG had surveyed the vulnerability of the soil at the local settlements by mapping the damage level of the buildings.

The BMKG also continued to monitor and map the aftershocks to predict when the tremors will end.

The result of the survey will become the recommendation for the regional government to strictly impose the building code to establish earthquake-resistant buildings, especially in disaster-prone zones.

Source: Antara News