VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo supports the transformation that the National Army (TNI) continues to carry out at 75 years old.

"As the supreme commander of the Indonesian Army, I have high hopes and always support the transformation of TNI strengthening," President Jokowi said at the State Palace, in Jakarta, on Monday.

The President conveyed this at the 75th Anniversary of the Indonesian National Army in 2020 which was also attended by Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD, Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, and Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko.

Also present TNI Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, Army Chief of Staff (KSAD) General TNI Andika Perkasa, Chief of Navy Staff (KSAL) Admiral TNI Yudo Margono, Chief of Air Force Staff (KSAU) ) TNI Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo, TNI soldiers who received award stars, and other limited guests, and were attended virtually from various TNI headquarters in Indonesia and task forces abroad.

"I have always said on various occasions that the world is moving quickly, the world is moving dynamically, the transformation of the TNI organization must always be carried out under the dynamics of the strategic environment, under the dynamics of threats, and under developments in military technology," the President emphasized.

According to President Jokowi, since the beginning of the reformation, there have been many transformations of the TNI organization that have been carried out to ensure that the TNI properly supports the need for democratic consolidation.

"To ensure that the TNI can adapt to post-cold war threats, especially unconventional threats and transnational threats, and to ensure that the TNI is able to adopt the latest developments based on nanotechnology and automation technology," the President said.

In the last 5 years, said the President, the TNI has carried out organizational transformation by forming new organizational units.

"We have formed new combat organizations, such as the 3rd Kostrad Division, 3rd Air Force Operational Command, 3rd Navy Fleet, and Third Marine troops. We have formed a joint force of the TNI, especially 3 Joint Regional Defense Command Command and 3 Air Force Drone Squadrons, and TNI Cyber ​​Unit," the President said.

According to President Jokowi, the formation of these new TNI units is a form of the government's commitment to continue supporting the transformation of the TNI organization so that the TNI will be stronger in carrying out its role.

"The character of a fighter who is always ready to answer the call of duty anytime and anywhere. Therefore we need a professional TNI, who is truly educated and trained, who is constantly improving his abilities, who is always ready to fulfill his call of duty," the President said.

President Jokowi also thanked the TNI soldiers who were always ready to fulfill the call of duty, who were always loyal to guard Pancasila, NKRI, the 1945 Constitution, and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika.

"Those who are committed to serving in the interior areas, in the border areas, on the frontier islands and who serve abroad as peacekeeping troops," Jokowi said. (Antaranews)

The drug for handling COVID-19, concocted by the pharmaceutical state-owned company (BUMN) holding, namely PT Kimia Farma Tbk and PT Indofarma, is ready to be used to accelerate the response to the pandemic in the country.

PT Kimia Farma Tbk is currently able to produce a drug for handling COVID-19, namely Favipiravir which can be used for COVID-19 therapy, said Bio Farma's public relations press release received in Bandung, Monday.

Meanwhile PT Indofarma Tbk is ready to market the anti-Corona drug Remdesivir under the trade name Desrem and this drug is produced by Mylan Laboratories Limited, under license from Gilead Sciences Inc, Foster City and the United States of America.

Apart from Favipivar, PT Kimia Farma Tbk, and its subsidiary, PT Phapros, Tbk, have also succeeded in producing several drugs for handling COVID-19, including Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, Favipiravir, Dexamethasone and Methylprednisolone.

"Kimia Farma also produces several multivitamins that increase immunity, such as Vitamin C (tablets and injection), Becefort, Fituno and Geriavita as additional products to maintain endurance," said Verdi Budidarmo, President Director of PT Kimia Farma Tbk, in the press release.

Verdi Budidarmo added that Kimia Farma can produce the Favipiravir drug, and it's the first product in Indonesia that was developed by BUMN and has obtained a Circular Permit Number (NIE) from the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) and will be distributed to all health services under government regulations.

Besides medicines and multivitamins, PT Kimia Farma Tbk through its retail network also distributes medical devices such as masks, hand sanitizers and performs inspection services, namely rapid tests or rapid tests produced by PT Kimia Farma Tbk itself and swab tests or PCR tests throughout the network.

PT Kimia Farma Tbk's healthcare services spread throughout Indonesia. Meanwhile, another member of the BUMN Pharmacy Holding, PT Indofarma Tbk, and its entire business group (“the Company”) supports the Government's efforts in suppressing the spread of COVID-19 in the country through various types of products including Oseltamivir 75vgr Caps which is the current leading antiviral has become a reference as a COVID-19 treatment protocol in various hospitals.

Oseltamivir 75 gr Caps is a product that has a Domestic Content Level certificate of 40.06 percent, which has been produced by PT Indofarma, Tbk with a production capacity of 4.9 million Capsules per month, so it is expected to meet the needs of the Indonesian people.

Another product for handling COVID-19 is Desrem ™ Remdesivir Inj 100 mg, which is an antiviral product produced by Mylan Laboratories Ltd, which will be marketed by PT Indofarma Tbk, in the near future.

President Director of Indofarma Arief Pramuhanto said that the product they will market soon is Desrem ™ Remdesivir Inj 100mg, which has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) approval in Indonesia and has been approved by BPOM through the Marketing Permit Number on Sep. 30, 2020.

Arief said Desrem ™ Remdesivir Inj 100mg will go on sale next week, to be used for inpatients with COVID-19 in moderate-to-severe conditions. The availability of stock for this month is around 400,000 vials at prices affordable for the public.

Arief Pramuhanto added that besides medicine, PT Indofarma Tbk has also produced medical devices such as 3Play Medical Face Mask (Inamask), Hand Sanitizer (Clind), Rapid Test (Smart Diagnostic Covid19) to Mobile Diagnostic Real-Time PCR, Isolation Transport Products to Transport Media Virus (VTM).

Meanwhile, Bio Farma has procured the COVID-19 vaccine, which results from collaboration with Sinovac, which is still in the clinical trial stage in Bandung.

As of the end of September 2020, there were 1319 volunteers who had received the first injection, 656 volunteers had received the second injection, and 244 volunteers were taking blood after the second injection.

Until now, there have been no reports of serious post-immunization follow-up events (AEFI) due to vaccines or vaccinations. (Antaranews)

The COVID-19 pandemic could trigger a debt crisis in some countries, so investors must be ready for granting some form of relief that could also include debt cancellation, World Bank President David Malpass was quoted as saying on Sunday.

“It is evident that some countries are unable to repay the debt they have taken on. We must therefore also reduce the debt level. This can be called debt relief or cancellation,” Malpass told Handelsblatt business daily in an interview.

“It is important that the amount of debt is reduced by restructuring,” Malpass added.

He pointed to similar steps in previous financial crises such as in Latin America and the so-called HIPC initiative for highly indebted countries in the 1990s.

Rich countries last month backed an extension of the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), approved in April to help developing nations survive the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen 43 of a potential 73 eligible countries defer $5 billion in “official sector” debt payments.

Amid warnings the pandemic could push 100 million people into extreme poverty, Malpass renewed his call for private banks and investment funds to get involved too.

“These investors are not doing enough and I am disappointed with them. Also, some of the major Chinese lenders did not get enough involved. The effect of the aid measures is therefore less than it could be,” the World Bank head said.

Malpass warned that the pandemic could trigger another debt crisis as some developing countries had already entered a downward spiral of weaker growth and financial trouble.

“The enormous budget deficits and debt payments are overwhelming these economies. In addition, the banks there are getting into difficulties due to bad loans,” Malpass added. (Reuters)

The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) has reported the deaths of three more frontline doctors due to novel coronavirus disease, bringing the total death toll to 130 as of October 3, 2020.

"Sad news once again comes to us. Within the first three days of October 2020, three more doctors died of COVID-19," Spokesperson of the IDI-Central Executive Board's Mitigation Team, Elizabeth said on Sunday.

The medical professionals who succumbed to the infection comprise 110 male doctors and 20 female doctors, she said, adding that they came from 18 provinces, including East Java, North Sumatra, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, and South Sulawesi.

Among them are 67 general practitioners, 61 medical specialists, and two residencies, Elizabeth said.

A worrisome trend has arisen in the past two weeks for Indonesia that has been battling to flatten its coronavirus curve since March 2020.

The country witnessed a spike in COVID-19 infection rates, with the addition of over four thousand new cases daily.

On Oct 3, 4,007 new cases were reported over a 24-hour period, pushing the total tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 299,506.

In dealing with the soaring number of new confirmed cases, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan declared the re-enforcement of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) that has come into effect from Sept 14, 2020, based on the emergency COVID-19 situation in the capital city.

As of Oct 3, Indonesia's COVID-19 recoveries had reached 225,052 while they recorded the mortality rate at 11,055.

Coronavirus infections initially emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces of Indonesia, with a massive spurt in the death toll.

To protect Indonesians from the deadly virus, the Indonesian Government has been striving to get COVID-19 vaccine candidates through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms.

Indonesia, for instance, has collaborated with the Chinese government through Sinovac Biotech's candidate vaccine, but it is also leaving no stone unturned to develop its own vaccine to fight the virus.

Besides the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, Indonesian scientists are currently working on a vaccine named after the country's national flag, Merah Putih (Red and White). (Antaranews)