VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Health Ministry is expediting efforts to speed up domestic vaccine logistics through collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

"With the assistance of JICA and the Japanese people, we can pursue vaccinations swiftly. I expect that this logistics system can be maintained all across Indonesia," director general of disease prevention and control at the ministry, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, informed here on Wednesday.

He said that Indonesia has received a grant of 330 vaccine refrigerators from JICA to complete the domestic vaccine management logistics chain.

The refrigerators have been allocated to priority provinces, districts, and cities that have cold chain storage facilities, he informed.

"These vaccine refrigerators are being distributed to 232 districts and cities in 32 provinces in Indonesia. The distribution process has kicked off since December 2022," he said.

During the handover of refrigerators at the ministry's office on Saturday (January 28, 2023), Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that many countries' experiences with expediting vaccination coverage have been influenced by the availability of supporting logistics, including storage facilities.

"We will improve the vaccine logistics chain so that the vaccine distribution runs accordingly and the quality of the vaccines is still well preserved, even all the way to the public health center at the very edge (of the country)," he added.

The allocation of vaccine refrigerators is expected to increase the capacity of cold chains at the provincial level and thereby, support immunization services.

On the same occasion, Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, Kanasugi Kenji, affirmed that JICA has provided US$1.8 million to UNICEF to provide 330 vaccine refrigerators in Indonesia.

"To secure vaccine supply throughout Indonesia, the addition of vaccine refrigerators is important not only to make sure that the vaccines cover all areas in Indonesia, but also to prepare for future pandemics and other diseases," he added.

JICA has conducted training on refrigerator management for medical personnel.

Besides refrigerators, the collaboration between the two countries has involved the provision of 7 million vaccines as well as medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators.

"My expectation from this collaboration is that it can contribute to the welfare of the Indonesian people," Kanasugi added. (antaranews)