VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

In the near future, Indonesian domestic industry players will produce 16,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) every day, based on the criteria of the World Health Organization -WHO. Indonesian Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, in a virtual press conference after a limited meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday (April 15) said that his office through the Textile Center of the Ministry of Industry has cooperated with the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling Covid-19. The cooperation was also expanded by involving the Indonesian Textile Association. Besides PPE, Minister Agus Gumiwang also said that his side along with a number of industries is also making various efforts to develop ventilators.

The Ministry of Industry has coordinated with four groups of ventilator developers from the University of Indonesia, the Yogyakarta team consisting of Gajah Mada University, and a number of private companies. From the results of the coordination, it is certain that several groups of ventilator developers will start producing this April. He also explained, the Yogyakarta team actually spoke in the medium to long term. Besides handling Covid-19, in the future, they will produce high-grade ventilators. While other groups will produce low-cost ventilators.

When opening a limited meeting recently, President Joko Widodo said, the availability of medical devices, medicines and pharmaceutical raw materials amidst Covid-19 pandemic must be ensured sufficient for this moment and in the future. This includes  the availability of PPE for doctors and medical personnel. The reason is that currently more than 200 countries in the world are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many countries in the world are  fighting  over the supply of medical devices and pharmaceutical goods to overcome the virus that attacks the respiratory tract.

President Joko Widodo asked the ranks of ministers and leaders of institutions to re-evaluate the entire potential of domestic industrial resources, such as the pharmaceutical raw materials industry, the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) industry, masks, ventilators and others. He also reminded, exports of goods related to handling Covid-19 to be done selectively, because domestic needs  must be prioritized. In addition, the import of raw materials for making medical devices and pharmaceutical goods to handle Covid-19 must be facilitated.