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Jakarta (ANTARA) – A pediatrician at the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital Dr. Himawan Aulia Rahman has reminded the public of the importance of providing vitamin A to children during the pandemic.

“Why is it important? Because vitamin A deficiency is quite high in developing countries, such as Indonesia. Vitamin A deficiency happens among 30 percent of children under the age of 5 throughout the world,” Rahman told ANTARA on Monday.

Rahman noted that vitamin A is very important for our eyes to prevent Xeropththalmia disease and is not produced by our bodies.

In addition, consuming vitamin A is important for cells that play a role in the development of our body.

Rahman said that vitamin A deficiency causes blindness in 500,000 pre-school children throughout the world each year.

“There is a research that shows routinely providing vitamin A for children in vitamin A deficiency endemic regions could reduce the number of deaths from five to 15 percent,” noted Rahman.

However, Rahman added that over-consumption of vitamin A is not recommended since it can result in poisoning.

For children who are exposed to COVID-19, vitamin A still has to be given. Parents can request vitamin A capsules in the nearest public health facilities, which then can be given to their children at home.

However, Rahman said it remains important to check the condition of both children and parents first.

“If the parents are also infected with COVID, then the rest of the family need to self-isolate. The vitamin A provision can be delayed until the isolation is over,” he said.

Nonetheless, Rahman underlined that this delay can not last for too long. Providing vitamin A has to be done within a month.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has dispatched 122 health personnel to Yogyakarta to support COVID-19 handling efforts in the province.

The personnel took off for Yogyakarta on board two C130 transport planes from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, East Jakarta, on Monday.

The deployment of the health personnel was ordered by Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander, Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, to aid COVID-19 handling in five locations in Yogyakarta — the city of Yogyakarta, and districts of Bantul, Sleman, Kulon Progo, and Gunung Kidul.

While leading the departure ceremony, head of the military health center, Mayor General Ratmono, said that the continued deployment to Yogyakarta was an honor for the TNI health personnel.

“The country really needs your energy and dedication because you are the front liners in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the country,” Ratmono was quoted by a press statement as saying. “On behalf of the TNI Commander, I express my appreciation, gratitude, and high appreciation,” he remarked.

The TNI is committed to assisting the government in accelerating vaccinations by mobilizing all its capabilities to slow down the spread of COVID-19 in the country, he added.

Among those deployed to Yogyakarta are 88 general practitioners (GP), 11 dentists, 4 nurses, 8 pharmacists, 2 physiotherapists, 1 radiologist, and 3 nutritionists, he informed.

They also include 1 electromedical technician, 2 medical analysts, 1 medical record officer, and 1 dental nurse who have completed their duties in Greater Jakarta areas, he added.

The first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia was confirmed in March 2020.

According to data released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 3,686,740 people had been confirmed positive for COVID-19 and 3,129,661 people had recovered from the infection in the country so far.

Source: Antara News

Palembang, South Sumatra (ANTARA) – The South Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) intensified efforts to dampen peatlands to reduce damage from wildfires during the peak of the August dry season throughout the province.

“We have received reports of conflagrations engulfing tens of hectares of peatlands. If we delay the land wetting process, more peatlands will burn, and smog disasters may ensue,” South Sumatra BPBD Emergency Mitigation Department Head Ansori stated in Palembang on Monday.

The BPBD had earlier dispatched its personnel to engage, on land and in the air, to map farms, forests and peatlands at high risk of wildfires, with support from the regional wildfire mitigation joint task force, Ansori said.

Dry areas and areas tagged as hot spots are dampened by using the closest water sources, such as rivers or lakes, and extinguishing efforts are done to areas currently engulfed in flames, he added. By taking those mitigation steps, Ansori expected wildfires that occurred within recent months could be controlled without causing a conflagration affecting hundreds of hectares of land and resulting in smog disasters.

Based on recent data, some 90 hectares of peatlands in the region are currently on fire, with regions affected by wildfires including Ogan Ilir, Banyuasin, Musi Banyuasin, Pali, and Ogan Komering Ulu Districts.

To prevent wildfires from spreading, the agency also expected residents to assist in guarding peatland, farms, and forests located close to their homes.

“By those efforts, we hope South Sumatra’s forests, peatlands, and farms are saved from wildfires and smog disasters could be averted during the peak of the dry season on this year,” Ansori added.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Jakarta Health Office has appealed to breastfeeding women to get vaccinated to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

“If you look at the current conditions, considering the risk of not being vaccinated against being vaccinated. Of course, the choice is getting vaccinated,” Head of the Public Health Division of the Jakarta Health Office Fify Mulyani said during a discussion on exclusive breastfeeding here on Monday.

According to Mulyani, it can be dangerous for breastfeeding women if they contract COVID-19 and experience severe symptoms.

Meanwhile, the side-effects of vaccination are typically the same as those experienced by people who are not breastfeeding, such as fever, soreness around the injection area, sleepiness, and other common post-immunization complaints, she said.

“The benefits of being vaccinated for breastfeeding women are greater than the risks,” she noted.

Therefore, breastfeeding mothers are urged to register at the community health centers (Puskesmas) or through the Jaki application to schedule a vaccination, she added. Earlier, an official from the Indonesian Pediatric Society (IDAI), Wiyarni Pambudi, had revealed that increased immunity had been seen in breastfeeding mothers who had received the COVID-19 vaccination.

In fact, their antibody levels increased 14 days after the first dose was injected, she added.

“In mothers who had been vaccinated against COVID-19, it was found that levels of specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in breast milk increased rapidly within 14 days after the first dose of vaccination, getting stronger after week four and measurably higher at weeks 5 and 6,” she explained.

Meanwhile, breastfeeding mothers who are confirmed positive for COVID-19 can still exclusively breastfeed their babies, she said.

Research has shown that breast milk in COVID-19 positive mothers has a high antibody content, she explained.

”In mothers who are confirmed positive, it turns out that their breast milk contains immunoglobulin A and G, lactalbumin, lactoferrin, which specifically can give protection against SARS-CoV-2. This is what is called natural passive immunization, which COVID-19 positive mothers give to their babies,” Pambudi explained.

Source: Antara News

Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA) – The Batam city government in Riau Islands Province has planned to give the third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to health workers in stages, the city’s mayor, Muhammad Rudi, said here on Monday.

The third vaccine dose for health workers had a high potency and there could possibly be adverse effects following immunization (AEFI), he said.

To maintain the service capacity in hospitals, health workers are advised to receive the booster dose gradually to avoid staff shortages in case many workers experience AEFI at the same time, he said.

“If all health workers rest (due to AEFI), hospital services can go down,” the mayor said.

For this reason, he said his administration has decided on the policy of vaccinating a third of medical workers in hospitals first and then immunizing others after a three-day gap.

Batam will begin administering vaccine boosters to health workers on Tuesday (August 10, 2021). ANTARA has earlier reported that Batam is targeting to inoculate a total of 5,548 health workers under its vaccination drive.

So far, 8,964 health workers in the city, or 161.57 percent of the target, have got vaccinated. Some 8,725 health workers, or 157.25 percent of the targeted workers, have received the second dose, or have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had earlier assured that vaccinated health workers in the country would be offered a third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to strengthen their immune response.

The Health Ministry has issued the Director-General of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Circular Letter HK.02.01/1/1919/2021 on the third dose of vaccination for all health workers, assistant health workers, and support workers involved in offering health services at facilities.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) has said it will ensure that children who lose their parents due to COVID-19 get the level of care they need.

“We have made a data management protocol and foster protocol for children infected and affected by COVID-19; children whose parents/caregivers/guardians are infected by COVID-19; as well as children whose parents have died because of COVID-19,” PPPA Minister Bintang Puspayoga said in a press release issued here on Monday.

The ministry has also issued a circular to provincial governments on preparing data on children who are separated from their parents due to self-isolation or death so they can get assistance and care, she informed.

Furthermore, the ministry has launched a call center number (129) and WhatsApp number (08111-129-192) where people can report children whose parents have died of COVID-19, she added.

“We also continue promoting the provisions for child protection, child care, child adoption and guardianship,” the minister said. The ministry is also taking preventive measures by optimizing the #BERJARAK movement to ensure women and children are safe and protected from COVID-19, Puspayoga said.

It is also optimizing Community-Based Integrated Child Protection (PATBM) to help families adapt to new habits during the COVID-19 pandemic, she informed.

“The PATBM knows the best about the children in their community. It can coordinate community-based care or find a substitute caregiver for the children separated with their families due to COVID-19,” she said.

The ministry is also trying to optimize the role of families in protecting children from COVID-19, she informed. It is children’s right to be well-cared by their own parents or their foster families, she stressed.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno on Monday visited the vaccination center at Terminal 3 (T3) of the Soekarno Hatta (Soetta) International Airport, which was set up to support the national vaccination program.

“I appreciate the collaboration between state-owned airport operator AP (Angkasa Pura) II, Traveloka, and the Health Ministry. To achieve herd immunity, we need to collaborate,” he said in a written statement received here on Monday.

Furthermore, he said that the nation’s vaccination program aims to reach two million vaccinations per day, as announced by President Joko Widodo.

He lauded the establishment of a vaccine center at the airport, saying it was a good innovation for helping tourists and citizens get vaccinated easily.

Currently, the government is preparing to integrate the PeduliLindung application with vaccination data from all regions, he noted.

In the future, he said, the mobility of residents, such as to restaurants, tourist attractions, and public places, will depend on their vaccination status. They will be asked to show a vaccine certificate in such places, he added. “The vaccine center at this airport needs to be appreciated because not many airports abroad offer vaccination centers,” he remarked.

The minister said that the acceleration of vaccinations in the country has continued to improve. Stocks of medicines, vaccine doses, and oxygen have also continued to increase, he added.

Therefore, with more vaccination centers established, it is hoped that the country will achieve community immunity, and the economy will recover in order to create more employment opportunities, Uno said.

In a bid to reduce COVID-19 transmission and build herd immunity, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021.

According to data provided by the Health Ministry, as of August 9, 2021, 51,396,079 Indonesians have received the first dose of vaccine and 24,888,506 citizens have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Source: Antara News