VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin delivers a speech at the opening of the Commemoration of International Day of Anti-Narcotics in Jakarta, Friday. (26/6/2020). (vice president's secretariat)

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin called for standardizing the handling of COVID-19 and narcotics, psychotropic medications, and drugs that guarantee the people’s rights to live and develop optimally.

"The handling of narcotics and COVID-19 necessitates the application of similar standards, specifically to provide guarantee and protect the rights of people to live, grow and develop optimally," Vice President Amin stated while delivering a speech at the opening of the commemoration of International Day of Anti-Narcotics in Jakarta, Friday.

Amin emphasized that the common enemies, in the form of COVID-19 and drugs, should be eradicated since they were grave threats.

If the threats are not immediately addressed early on, then development could bear a major brunt.

"Both COVID-19 and drugs are serious threats. The impact is multidimensional, from the state to the smallest section of society, specifically the family," he remarked.

In a bid to eradicate drugs, the vice president lauded the performance of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) that promoted the Prevention, Eradication of Abuse and Narcotics Dark Circulation (P4GN) Program.

"Many real achievements have been achieved, so as to reduce the prevalence of drug abuse, which in had reached 2.23 percent in 2011 to 1.80 percent in 2019," the vice president pointed out.

Based on these achievements, the government will continue with the P4GN program through the issuance of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 2 of 2020 that instructs all cabinet levels to take national action on P4GN.

"The government is strongly committed to continuing the program and narcotics eradication. Presidential Instruction Number 2 of 2020 has been ratified. Its contents instruct the entire Indonesian Cabinet, attorney general, National Police chief, Armed Forces commander, head of BIN, non-ministerial level government institutions, governors, district heads, and mayors to carry out the P4GN National Action," he remarked.

International Day of Anti-Narcotics, an initiative of the United Nations (UN), is commemorated on June 26 every year. The theme for observing International Day of Anti-Narcotics in Indonesia aligns with the situation presented on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. (ANTARA)