VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): National Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) President Director Ali Ghufron Mukti on Tuesday asked local governments that won the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Award to maintain the quality of health services in their regions.

"We expect local governments which have achieved the UHC Award to continue to maintain their achievement," he remarked at the awarding ceremony for the UHC Award to regional governments here on Tuesday.

The UHC Award is expected to encourage local governments to increase the number of participants of BPJS Kesehatan so as to ensure health security for people across Indonesia.

Mukti expressed the hope that local governments that received the awards would ensure the active participation of the community in the National Health Insurance (JKN) program, for instance, by paying the insurance premiums on time.

In addition, he asked regional governments to improve the quality of services at health facilities serving JKN participants in their respective regions.

"Thus, the health insurance program for the community can be carried out properly," he explained.

For receiving the award, local governments were required to ensure that each person in their region had access to fair, equitable, and quality medical services, Mukti said.

"Hence, we encourage other regional governments to immediately increase the coverage of the participation of the community in their regions in the JKN-Healthy Indonesia Cards (KIS) program," he added.

One of the advantages of taking part in the JKN-KIS program is that it has the principle of portability and it can also be utilized by healthy people, he noted.

In addition, the insurance program can be used by people to seek treatment in all regions of Indonesia, he informed.

"(The operations of) our representative offices in each district and city are expected to strengthen synergy with the local governments. We are ready to collaborate and realize UHC in Indonesia together (with the regional governments)," he added.

The UHC Awards were presented by Vice President Ma’ruf Amin to a number of local governments who supported the implementation of the JKN-KIS program.  (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Minister Bintang Puspayoga on Tuesday shared Indonesia’s best practices for developing child-friendly integrated public spaces (RPTRA) with Singaporean Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli.

According to a statement received from the PPPA Ministry on Tuesday, the two ministers visited the Kenanga RPTRA in Central Jakarta.

The activity was part of Zulkifli’s working visit to Indonesia to follow up on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between Indonesia's PPPA Ministry and Singapore's Social and Family Development Ministry.

"Minister Masagos and I visit the RPTRA, which shows the Indonesian government's commitment to providing a safe place for children, women, and families to play, study, socialize, and seek (public) information," the Indonesian minister said.

She expressed the hope that the establishment of RPTRA would inspire other countries, including Singapore, to provide more women and children-friendly places.

"The PPPA Ministry has also carried out the standardization of six child-friendly playgrounds in Jakarta, including the Kenanga RPTRA," she informed.

Currently, there are 324 RPTRAs in Jakarta, which are managed by the local government in collaboration with the family welfare development and empowerment team (TP PKK) as well as the community.

One of the collaborative programs at RPTRA Kenanga is the Family Service Center (Puspa) which was initiated by the Jakarta Provincial Empowerment, Child Protection, and Population Management (DPPAPP) Office.

"Puspa provides online information, learning, and counseling services regarding family, nutrition, finance, and elderly issues. According to the information we received, 1,259 consultations were conducted through Puspa,” she noted.

Meanwhile, face-to-face consultation services are still being held through the Family Learning Center (Puspaga) Program, she disclosed.

Zulkifli lauded Indonesia’s best practices in establishing the RPTRAs.

"The government of Singapore thanks the Minister of PPPA for welcoming us,” he said.

He noted that on November 8, 2022, Indonesia’s PPPA Ministry and Singapore's Social and Family Development Ministry inked an MoU to enhance cooperation between the two governments.

One of the efforts made to increase cooperation was the conduct of comparative studies on good practices of women's empowerment, child protection, and family development issues, he added.

During the visit, the two ministers took part in a Puspa simulation, talked and played with children, harvested hydroponic crops, and observed taekwondo training.

In addition, they reviewed a Puspaga counseling room, a lactation room, a small and medium enterprises (UKM) hall called Gross Mart, a library, as well as an Early Childhood Education (PAUD) class. (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD and Australia’s Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil discussed the latent threat of terrorism at the “9th Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM)” on Tuesday.

"In the Southeast Asian region, terrorism and radicalism still pose serious threats,” the Indonesian minister said at the meeting held in Melbourne, Australia, according to a statement issued the same day.

He emphasized that terrorism is a latent threat, driven by ideological, political, and social conflicts, thus, cooperation between Indonesia and Australia is required at various levels to eradicate the threat.

“Various terror groups affiliated with ISIS and Al Qaeda still have the potential to disrupt regional stability," he said.

During the meeting, the two ministers also talked about Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF), online radicalization, the radicalization of women and the younger generation, as well as the progress of efforts made to combat terrorism and violent extremism.

“Radicalization through social media or the Internet (currently) requires more attention, considering that most of the terror attacks are carried out by lone wolves, (and) most of the perpetrators are victims of radicalization via social media or the Internet," Mahfud said.

Furthermore, Indonesia and Australia have collaborated well in combating terrorism and violent extremism through various forms of bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation, he added.

At the sub-regional level, the two countries co-chaired the “Sub-Regional Ministerial Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security.”

The countries that took part in the meeting were Indonesia, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Indonesia and Australia also co-chaired the “Senior Official Counter-Terrorism Policy Forum (SOCTPF) Meeting.”

The first and second SOCTPF meetings, held in 2021 and 2022 respectively, had resulted in high-level principles regarding the protection of children associated with terrorism and violent extremism.

"I really laud this outcome and I expect that the results of the SOCTPF meeting can be approved by ministerial and high-ranking official representatives at the sub-regional meeting, which we (Indonesia and Australia) will hold on March 16 (2023),” the Indonesian minister added. (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has outlined a number of strategic steps for achieving the target of at least 98 percent universal health coverage (UHC) so that all residents have access to health services by 2024.

At the “Awarding of the 2023 UHC” to regional governments in Jakarta on Tuesday, he asked local governments to first assume an active role by registering vulnerable residents for the National Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS) Health, including persons with disabilities, the elderly, and displaced people.

"I appreciate the commitment to providing the regional budget to cover for health insurance contributions. Strong funding will ensure the sustainability of the program on an ongoing basis," he said.

Second, local governments will need to ensure that employers provide proper access to health insurance to workers and their families.

"Local governments must ensure that all employers in their area register their workers and family members as participants without exception," he emphasized.

Third, local governments are expected to provide assistance to informal workers to participate in the National Health Insurance Program (JKN).

"The local government must encourage informal workers with a stable financial income to register themselves and their families for the JKN Program," the Vice President said.

He expressed the hope that the provincial government will continue to improve the quality of services, starting with health facilities and personnel.

"The local government is also encouraged to improve the quality of health services by providing health facilities, including health human resources, to provide better health services to the community," he disclosed.

Fourth, the Vice President asked BPJS Health to continue to improve the quality of services for all participants.

"BPJS Health's program, namely the JKN program, must really benefit the community," he stressed.

He also instructed related elements to synergize and collaborate to ensure the provision of public health services through the JKN program.

"I ask to strengthen the synergy between BPJS Health, ministries/agencies, and all regional governments to ensure that all residents are protected through the JKN program," he added.  (Antaranews)