Day: May 15, 2022

ASEAN health ministers have approved the establishment of an ASEAN Center for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases (ACPHEED) as a collaborative effort to deal with extraordinary events and future pandemics.

“There will be three pillars of ACPHEED, surveillance or detection, response, and risk management,” Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said while delivering a press statement after chairing the 15th ASEAN Health Ministers’ Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Saturday.

These pillars will be supported by three ASEAN representative countries, namely Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, who will work together under one ACPHEED establishment to anticipate extraordinary events, he added.

“There will be a collaboration of three countries, each of whom will build offices in their countries for the three existing pillars,” he informed.

The working principles of ACPHEED will be generally similar to those of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), he said.

“In addition to disease emergencies, there is also risk management of extraordinary events,” Sadikin said.

According to him, every ASEAN country has the right to fill the three offices in the spirit of togetherness.

“For example, Indonesia takes the role of surveillance and early detection, and the office can be in Indonesia, but Thais, Malaysians, or Singaporeans can be based there to be able to integrate the detection of potential extraordinary events in ASEAN,” he explained.

Minister Sadikin, who is also chair of the ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting, called ACPHEED a solution to address the problems of differing health protocols in each ASEAN country.

“Health experts say this cannot be handled differently; it must be addressed in a health way as the same epidemiological entity. The health protocols must be harmonized,” he said.

For uniformity of health protocols, ASEAN countries can adopt provisions similar to the implementation of public activities restrictions (PPKM) in Indonesia.

“We will synergize the ASEAN health protocols. If the cases have dropped significantly in a country, then the health protocol relaxation will be higher than in other countries. Just like PPKM in every province,” he explained.

Source: ANTARA News

At least 42.4 million Indonesian citizens have received the third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Saturday, according to a report from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

According to the task force data received by ANTARA here on Saturday, the number of third dose recipients grew by 213,553 on Saturday, taking the total tally to 42,415,365.

Meanwhile, the number of fully vaccinated people, or those who have received two vaccine doses under the government’s national vaccination program, swelled by 79,967 to reach 166,160,498.

As per the data, the number of people who received the first dose rose by 42,913, taking the total number of recipients to 199,556,458.

As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, targeting as many as 208,265,720 citizens across the country. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.

Earlier, government spokesperson for COVID-19 handling, Wiku Adisasmito, emphasized that Indonesia needs to be wary of the increasing trend in people’s mobility that can potentially cause a spike in COVID-19 cases after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Adisasmito noted that according to data from Google Mobility, as of May 6, 2022, an increase in mobility has been seen at retail outlets, recreational and grocery stores, parks, and public transportation centers. Meanwhile, overall, people’s mobility in the workplace and offices has declined.

Due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission presented by the increase in people’s mobility, he asked people to remain aware of their health and promptly get tested if they experience COVID-19 symptoms to prevent putting vulnerable people at risk.

In addition, the community has also been urged to implement a healthy lifestyle, including wearing masks continuously.

Source: ANTARA News

The Health Office of Lampung province has continued to boost alertness about a mysterious acute variant of hepatitis in the province to anticipate its spread.

“We continue to increase our early alert system as part of anticipatory measures before cases of acute hepatitis spread,” head of the Lampung Health Office, Reihana, said here on Saturday.

She informed that the province has not detected any acute hepatitis cases so far.

Reihana said that currently, her office is continuing to monitor newborn children as well as children aged below 16 years, to monitor the development of children’s health in Lampung province.

“Indeed, on average, those infected aged between 1 month to 16 years. Thus, this has also become a concern,” she added.

The Health Office head said that the anticipatory measures include implementing a healthy lifestyle and continuously implementing the health protocols.

“Maintain immunity with a healthy lifestyle, continue to implement the health protocols, and if you experience symptoms that are leading to the disease, promptly go to the hospital,” she appealed to the public.

Earlier, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, had assured that health facilities at central and regional levels are ready to provide services for patients with acute hepatitis.

“For referral at the national level, we have readied the Sulianti Saroso Hospital. However, in all provinces, there are also hospitals under the Ministry of Health that are ready to provide treatment,” she said.

In addition, the ministry is cooperating with the Indonesian Pediatric Society (IDAI) and networks of pediatric specialists in all districts and cities to monitor and follow further developments in the handling of acute hepatitis.

The Ministry of Health had earlier increased vigilance against a mysterious form of acute hepatitis that is affecting children in several countries.

The ministry had sent a letter of vigilance to provincial, district, and city health offices, specifically Circular Letter Number HK.02.02/C/2515/2022, concerning precautions for the discovery of acute hepatitis cases of unknown etiology.

Source: ANTARA News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – There is no better time than now for APEC members to revive work on integrating the Asia-Pacific and bringing new energy to the long-term prospect of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

The APEC Policy Support Unit made the statement in a new policy brief.

“The pandemic and the aftermath of COVID-19 have only stressed the significance of regional economic integration,” director of the APEC Policy Support Unit, Denis Hew, said, according to a release issued by the APEC Secretariat and received here on Saturday.

“APEC policy makers need to address emerging trade-related issues and challenges in order to realize deeper regional economic integration,” Hew argued.

Meanwhile, a senior analyst with the APEC Policy Support Unit, Carlos Kuriyama, who is also the author of the policy brief, said that it is not enough for governments to take decisive action at the domestic level when the world faces a pandemic.

International collaboration has to be a part of the solution, he stressed.

“Most importantly, any regional integration scheme, including free and/or regional trade agreements, could assist to overcome pandemic-related challenges,” Kuriyama added.

The report identifies six main challenges affecting trade that are deemed most critical, namely disruption in accessing essential goods, disruption in trade in services, difficulties in supply chain logistics, digital transformation, transparency, and regulatory bottlenecks affecting trade in essential goods.

While some of these disruptions were far more severe during the first stage of the pandemic, the challenges persist.

For example, some of the export restrictions on essential goods are still in place, the services trade has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, and cross-border data restrictions have increased globally.

“There’s a need for us to resolve bottlenecks in supply chain logistics. Delays in vessel arrivals have increased by almost 50 percent since the pandemic started and freight rates for 40-feet long containers have skyrocketed by more than 600 percent,” Kuriyama said.

The policy brief highlighted that APEC, as an incubator of ideas, could take those challenges into account and incorporate new topics related to the trade in goods, services, trade facilitation and digital issues, among others, into the FTAAP work program.

Member economies could come together and collectively commit to not implement export restrictions on essential goods and ensure their availability for commercial purchase, Kuriyama suggested.

They could also ensure that airports, ports, customs, and border facilities remain operational during pandemics.

“There is also a need for APEC economies to facilitate the movement of essential workers, including aircrews and maritime seafarers across borders,” he said.

“Border cooperation and technical assistance needs to be strengthened by adapting modern technologies and paperless procedures,” he added.

Important to the future of work and trade is digitalization. According to the report, modern trade rules for data privacy, data localization, cross-border data flows, and electronic commerce — such as consumer protection, electronic payments, and electronic signatures, among others — are needed to foster the digital economy.

“While the pandemic has accelerated structural changes in the economy, APEC is in a position to influence the global trade agenda,” Kuriyama said.

“APEC encourages the resilience of economies by undertaking collective initiatives, including capacity-building activities, in areas of growing interest. We must seize this momentum to achieve a more inclusive and sustainable future,” he added.

Source: ANTARA News

The Indonesian Health Ministry’s Secretary General Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha and World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Indonesia N. Paranietharan agreed to the 2022–2023 Biennium Grant Agreement in Bali province on Saturday. The secretary general delivered the information in a statement on Saturday. The agreement health cooperation will serve as a reference for the establishment of a budget plan for a work program of the ministry, he added.

Meanwhile, the budget plan program will act as a grant agreement between WHO Indonesia and grant recipients, which are the technical units at the ministry. It will also be the basis for registering grant permits in accordance with the Finance Minister’s Regulation Number 99 of 2017 and the Health Minister’s Regulation Number 55 of 2017.

“The collaboration will support various strategic activities to implement health sector transformation with good accountability,” Nugraha said.

The cooperation between the ministry and WHO Indonesia is being implemented according to the WHO Country Cooperation Strategy, which is synergized with the country’s Mid-Term National Development Program (RPJMN), he informed.

Hence, the current agreement will implement the activities outlined in the Joint Work Plan of the Indonesian Health Ministry and WHO Indonesia for the WHO Program Budget 2022–2023 to support the implementation of the WHO 13th General Program of Work, Indonesia’s 2020–2024 RPJMN, as well as the transformation pillars of the ministry.

He noted that the technical cooperation of the two parties began with the signing of the Basic Agreement in 1951, which was renewed in 1958.

Currently, the ministry is carrying out a health sector transformation, which covers primary services, secondary services, resilience system, financing system, human resources, as well as technology, the secretary general added.

Furthermore, he lauded WHO Indonesia for supporting various health sector development programs in the country, including for handling the pandemic.

He said he expected that the collaboration will be strengthened and continue to be implemented in accordance with applicable regulations.

“Thus, it is necessary to carry out continuous monitoring and evaluation to maintain the sustainable improvement (of the programs),” he added.

Source: ANTARA News

Badung, Bali (ANTARA) – Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has pushed for an investment agreement with the United States (US) in the development of health system services at the ASEAN regional primary level.

“Today I would like to reiterate three important points. The first is to encourage investment in Puskesmas (Community Health Centers) as entry points to the entire health system. The progress of primary health care is very important,” said Sadikin when opening the ASEAN-US Special Meeting here on Sunday.

Sadikin, who is also the Chief Minister of Health throughout ASEAN, said that health care facilities at the primary level are a means of health promotion that must be strengthened so that people can adopt a healthy lifestyle so as to reduce the financial burden of the state in treating patients.

Primary health care facilities are also important to ensure access to care for vulnerable groups so that their rights can be fulfilled equitably, said the minister.

He also encouraged the US government’s support for the development of vaccine production, therapy and diagnostic tools in the ASEAN region by increasing technology transfer and research and development capacity, especially from high-income countries to low- and middle-income countries.

Another collaboration is to build the capacity of health workers. “Even if everything is well-organized, it will mean nothing without trained and well-performing health workers,” he said.

Ministers of health from all over ASEAN welcomed the US support for the ASEAN region which had been realized through vaccine assistance up to the development of a health emergency coordination system.

“I would like to thank the United States for its USD40 million support through the US-ASEAN Health Futures at the October 2021 Summit as a form of concern for accelerating joint research, strengthening health system capacity, and increasing the capacity of the next generation of health workers,” he said.

At the ASEAN-US Special Summit in Washington DC on May 12-13, 2021, Minister Sadikin said that President Joe Biden was committed to strengthening partnerships with ASEAN Leaders by providing assistance of more than 116 million doses of vaccine to ASEAN member countries.

Sadikin also appreciated the US support for the initiative to develop the ASEAN Public Health Emergency Coordination System (APHECS) and the ASEAN Center for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases (ACPHEED). “The US has laid the groundwork for regional preparedness and response to future public health emergencies,” he said.

The ASEAN-US special meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, said Sadikin, became a momentum to share experiences and to agree on cooperation in developing a work plan for three years.

“I believe that the US expertise, knowledge and experience will benefit the future of the health sector in ASEAN,” he said.

Source: ANTARA News

I believe in the power of investment.

Bali (ANTARA) – ASEAN Health Ministers strengthen cooperation with China in preventing animal-to-human (zoonotic) infectious diseases through the implementation of One Health scheme, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said.

“Indonesia is committed to promoting the One Health scheme through ASEAN -China health cooperation,” he stated while chairing the 8th ASEAN-China Health Ministers Meeting (ACHMM) in Nusa Dua, Bali Province, on Sunday.

One Health is a collaborative scheme among the countries to optimally promote healthy humans, animals, and the environment.

The Indonesian minister has emphasized that humans, animals, and the environment are inseparable. Unfortunately, people often exploit other living things in such an excessive way that causes ecological imbalances and eventually leads to the emergence of zoonotic diseases that threaten human life.

He said that for 19 years, ASEAN and China have faced several outbreaks of zoonotic diseases, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza caused by H5N1 in 2003, as well as COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in 2019.

“There may be another outbreak which has the potential to cause another pandemic,” he said.

Hence, he proposed a number of intervention attempts, including strengthening the regional capacities and capabilities, as well as optimizing existing information-sharing platforms in ASEAN.

“The optimization must involve the development of big data, artificial intelligence and the internet access to enable real-time integrated global surveillance of human, animal, and plant diseases,” he stated.

In addition, Sadikin encouraged ASEAN and China to develop regional research centers and networks.

“I believe in the power of investment. Investment in research and development activities will strengthen the region’s ability to respond to a pandemic in future,” he remarked.

Reflecting to the COVID-19 pandemic, he stated that the global genomic data studied by the researchers have facilitated the rapid discovery and development of vaccines.

The minister said that the One Health scheme must also be supported by conducting transfer of knowledge from China to develop local medical equipment manufacturing facilities in ASEAN member countries.

“In addition, we were able to quickly respond to the pandemic through business-to-business as well as multilateral and regional cooperation. By having local manufacturers, each ASEAN member country will have stronger capacities and capabilities when another pandemic occurs,” he stated.

It is also important to secure an adequate supply of vaccines, therapies, and medical diagnostic equipment, he added.

Source: ANTARA News