VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Dr. Yogi Prabowo, the president, medical volunteer, concurrently the founder of MER-C

The Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) Indonesia has appealed to Indonesian public and health workers to make collective efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in the path to realizing a disease-free nation.

The COVID-19 response mechanism in Indonesia must be conducted through proper crisis management so as not to create new problems, Dr. Yogi Prabowo, the president, medical volunteer and concurrently MER-C founder, noted in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Furthermore, Prabowo cautioned that in the wake of the crisis, certain irresponsible parties or groups could derive undue advantage by exploiting a divided nation to further their own interests.

"Indeed, a country being affected by a disaster becomes the locus minoris for a foreign power to invade and control it. Let us, fellow nationals, realize this immediately. It is better to unite and save this country from adversity and the threat of other parties attempting to control the country," Prabowo remarked.

He called to expedite the laboratory process for COVID-19 tests to avert friction between community members and health workers on the field.

Prabowo expounded that apprehensive people demand timely certainty on whether their family members are protected from COVID-19 infection owing to the socio-spiritual impacts.

On the other hand, medical workers striving ceaselessly to help patients are compelled to tender detailed explanations to their families during a complicated situation while awaiting results of COVID-19 tests that could take a long time, he remarked.

The government should be in a position to offer an explanation on the legal aspects of the disaster to the community, so that the burden is not solely borne by health workers, who are confronted by the families of anxious patients, he explained.

"In the midst of this situation, the emotional well-being of health workers is at risk," he stated.

Hence, Prabowo has invited all parties to work together and desist from creating new problems in the midst of the pandemic.

"Both parties (patients' families and health workers) should exercise self-restraint since in the concept of disaster management, one of the keys to success is 'don't make problems in troubled waters' or 'don't ignite fire near gasoline'. Crisis management will determine the success of disaster response. The government, professional organizations, and community leaders should remind the people of the significance of cooperation in dealing with disaster," Prabowo stated.

Recently, several conflicts erupted between the patients' family members and hospitals over the burials of patients suspected of having contracted COVID-19 while the laboratory results were yet pending.

While the results of COVID-19 tests were awaited, several incidents came to light, including one in which the hospitals had decided to bury the patients in accordance with the COVID-19 health protocols, but the deceased patients' families usually rejected such burials and were keen on a normal burial procession. (ANTARA)