A medical officer holds vitamin A before giving it to a baby at Depok, West Java, Indonesia, Aug. 16, 2020. Medical officers at Depok distribute vitamin A as a monthly medical health treatment for infants and children by visiting door to door amid the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Dedy Istanto/Xinhua)
by Bambang Purwanto
JAKARTA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo said fundamental reforms in the health sector should be accelerated amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and oriented to preventive measures and healthy ways of life.
"Efforts to improve the human resource capacity and strengthen the industry of medicinal products and health gears must be put into first priority. The health resilience and health service capacity must be enhanced massively," the president said in a state address at an annual assembly of the People's Consultative Assembly (locally known as MPR) here on Friday.
Amid the current time of crisis, according to Widodo, Indonesia has to make a big leap not only in the health sector but also those of economy, foods, education, administrations and culture among other fields.
The crisis was a momentum for the government and the public to catch up with other countries and make big transformations with big strategies, he said, calling on all national elements to solve the fundamental questions in the country together.
The head of state also appreciated the People's Consultative Assembly for its efforts to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak under its new program with the tagline MPR Cares for A Move Against the COVID-19 Pandemic.
"We are lucky and thank for the supports from the leaders of state institutions that have made quick and extraordinary moves in coping with the crisis," he added.
Widodo noted that 215 countries have been undergoing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the WHO has recorded that there are more than 20 million cases in the world with the death tally totaling 750,000.
In response to that non-natural disaster, he said the government has been moving quickly to settle the health crisis which has been affecting the economy by issuing policies and regulations on various measures among others on social assistance for affected small and medium enterprises and laid-off workers.
On the estimate that Indonesia's economy would firmly recover next year and the deficit of the development budget would swell from the initial plan amid the expectation that the COVID-19 vaccine would be ready for usage, Widodo proposed to the country's parliament 4.5 to 5.5 percent of economic growth next year after the Finance Ministry projected the growth to be nearly flat this year.
The efforts in response to the risks of the pandemic, including to the packages of the economic stimulus and social safety as well as the financing of massive production of the COVID-19 vaccine, have led the government to widen the development budget deficit to 5.5 percent of the GDP or 971.2 trillion rupiahs (some 65.11 billion U.S. dollars) next year from 5.2 percent projected last month, according to the proposal.
Still, the figure is lower than the 6.34 percent of the budget deficit expectation for this year.
Widodo pledged to continue efforts to shore up the economy which has been dashed by COVID-19.
On the same occasion, Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani said in her speech that the COVID-19 pandemic has demanded that the performance in all sectors need improvement.
"We can see various shortcomings that should be overcome and we should enhance our performance to make Indonesia advance," Maharani said.
She further said the health services should be given equally to all the Indonesian people across the country with an integrated and coordinated disaster mitigation effort.
In addition, the system on social guarantee and social protection should be improved and the regulations on efforts to avert economic crisis should also be enhanced, she said.
Having the same idea with Maharani, legislator Saleh Partaonan Daulay said the proposed state budget for the health sector in 2021 totaling 169.7 trillion rupiahs (some 11.5 billion U.S. dollars) should be distributed equally to all the people both in urban and rural areas.
The budget should be used to develop health infrastructures and facilities in a bid to solve the people's health problems including the COVID-19 pandemic, Daulay was quoted by Antara news agency as saying after attending the MPR's assembly.
Besides COVID-19, Daulay reminded the government that there are more diseases that have claimed lives in Indonesia including tuberculosis and dengue fever as they have not been handled properly. Enditem
