VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has said that the health industry has become a priority investment sector in the midst of the global pandemic.

"Reflecting upon our experience in handling COVID-19, Indonesia needs to reduce its dependence on imported products. Thus, the health industry has become one of the priority investment sectors," he remarked at the 2021 Health Business Gathering in Bali on Friday.

The current global health trend is pushing the growth of the healthcare industry due to the pandemic, changing customer demand, shifting focus on cost control, the discovery of new therapies, as well as digital and telemedicine innovation, he noted.

"The health industry has great potential in Indonesia as middle-class households’ income has increased and universal healthcare is increasingly encouraged," the coordinating minister stated.

He said he believed that supporting the development of the industry will increase the variety of exported products and reduce exports of raw materials.

Furthermore, he informed that Indonesia's trade deficit in medical devices increased almost fourfold from US$161 million in 2013 to US$531 million in 2020.

In fact, over the last two years, Indonesia’s imports have climbed by more than 10 percent to reach US$703 million in 2020, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, exports have grown by just around three percent to five percent in the last three years, he said. In fact, they were pegged at just US$171 million in 2020, he added.

Indonesia relies heavily on imports of advanced medical devices, while its exported products are limited despite the country having all the necessary production resources, the minister said.

“Almost all medical device imports continue to increase, with the highest record being the electrodiagnosis devices by US$87 million, ultrasonic scanning devices by US$70 million, as well as needles, catheters, cannula and such by US$43 million," he noted.

At the same event, coordinating deputy for investment and mining at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs, Septian Hario Seto, inked three Letters of Intent (LoI) worth around Rp110 billion with three medical device companies.

Another 30 companies are expected to invest and manufacture medical devices in Indonesia soon, he informed. (Antaranews)

Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga accentuated that women should be competent in terms of possessing digital literacy skills to protect themselves from the dire impacts of the internet.

Access to the internet can have dire impacts on its users if they are not competent in digital literacy, Puspayoga noted during a discussion on the topic “Knowing the Social Media Crime to Strengthen the Family Security” on Saturday.

"The borderless characteristics of the digital world recently led to various crimes that we need to stay alert for, such as online gender-based harassment,” she emphasized.

The online gender-based harassment has higher risks amid the pandemic, she noted.

According to the Women's National Commission in 2021, cases of online gender-based harassment climbed by four folds, from 2019 to 2020.

Online gender-based harassment is also risky for children, she added.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission received as many as 621 reports on pornography and cybercrimes involving children in 2020.

“Hence, digital literacy in women not only plays an important role for protecting themselves but also their children,” she noted.

Moreover, enhancing digital literacy is not only the duty of mothers but also the fathers, she stated.

“Both parents and children should understand the various risks posed by the internet, the prevalent crime modes, protective tools on the internet, and how to protect ourselves while using the internet,” she remarked. (Antaranews)

Nurturing religious moderation to prevent intolerance, radicalism, and terrorism must start in families, Datokarama Islamic State University rector and academic Sagaf S. Pettalongi stated.

"Families and households, as the social components, must be strengthened to optimize their role in nurturing values of peace and religious moderation in their children," the academic stated during a seminar on women's role in promoting religious moderation and nationalism held in Sigi, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday.

Religious moderation must be promoted to nurture the habit of applying noble religious values as a principle in establishing peace and preventing violence in society and contributing to achieving national cohesion and unity, Pettalongi remarked.

The rector highlighted four qualities that determine a person with high commitment to religious moderation: their loyalty to the national ideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution; opposition to physical and non-physical violence; tolerance to other religions and their adherents; and respect to traditional and cultural values espoused by society.

"Hence, promoting religious moderation in families must start by nurturing the four qualities that I have expounded," Pettalongi stated.

Promoting a moderate religious outlook in families is paramount to preventing religious intolerance and radicalism from sprouting in families, he noted.

"This is since families and parents have a paramount role in nurturing the young generation," the academic affirmed.

He pointed out that mothers and fathers, with a moderate religious outlook, will always shield their children from intolerance, radicalism, and terrorism thoughts.

"By becoming the closest figure to children, mothers have an essential role in serving as an agent of peace to guard their children against intolerance and radical thoughts in the household," Pettalongi stated.  (Antaranews)

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin expects Indonesia's healthcare system to become more resilient after the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected various sectors in society and almost overwhelmed the national healthcare system.

"The COVID-19 pandemic apart from reminding us to be persistent in following health protocols, also alerted us about the importance of enhancing the national healthcare system to become more resilient in future," the vice president remarked while officiating the COVID-19 Heroes Monument in Bandung, West Java, on Saturday.

Amin cautioned that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and will likely continue in the foreseeable future after global scientists warned of the emergence of the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

To prevent the new COVID-19 virus variant from entering Indonesia, the vice president urged the authority and all parties to enhance COVID-19 preventive efforts and expedite vaccination drives.

"We need to upgrade our healthcare system and accelerate COVID-19 vaccination efforts to expand the national vaccination coverage. Moreover, we need to remain disciplined in observing health protocols and stay adaptive to likely changes in future," he remarked.

Amin affirmed that the government will collaborate with relevant parties and institutions apart from maximizing health workers and regional health offices to expedite COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesian regions.

Military troops, police officers, National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) staff, and public organizations are among institutions invited to collaborate with the government to assist in conducting vaccination drives in their respective regions, he added.

"We will expedite COVID-19 vaccination efforts in agglomeration areas, regions with low vaccination rates, and regions outside Java Island," the vice president remarked.

Amin also urged security and immigration officers to intensify monitoring of arriving travelers at all land, sea, and air entry points to prevent the COVID-19 Omicron variant from infiltrating the Indonesian border and infecting Indonesian residents. (antaranews)