Better information systems needed in Africa to strengthen health services – UN official

21 November 2012 – African countries must improve the ways in which they collect, organize and transmit health information to their citizens, a United Nations official said today at a regional meeting in Luanda, Angola.

In his report presented to the UN World Health Organization’s (WHO) 62nd session of its Regional Committee for Africa, WHO Regional Director for the continent, Luis Sambo, also highlighted the challenges facing countries to produce good quality and timely information to their cities.

Among these are efforts and initiatives that seek to acquire health information, which are fragmented across sectors, levels, projects, disciplines and specialties. Other challenges include poor generation of evidence to implement policies and a lack of collaboration among stakeholders to analyze and share data and evidence.

To address these challenges, Dr. Sambo recommended that each country establish an online platform to archive and monitor national information on health. A clear road map and timeline should be established for this process, he added, while assuring African countries that WHO is ready to provide detailed advice and technical support on this process.

The creation of each online platform, called a National Health Observatory (NHO), should involve and coordinate all health stakeholders in each country, the WHO official said, including public health policymakers, experts, and international partners.

In addition, countries that have already established NHOs should ensure that these are meeting the specific needs of their countries and are used to share and use important information that will lead to better health for Africans.

During his presentation, Dr. Sambo also underscored that African countries should draw from resources from global health initiatives (GHIs), which target specific diseases, to strengthen their health systems.

“The dramatic increase in the number of GHIs means that countries need to improve how they work with different stakeholders in the health sector,” WHO stated in a news release on Dr. Sambo’s report. Pooling resources from different sources would lead to good quality, integrated health services.

Sharing information among countries is also vital to prevent the spread of diseases, Dr. Sambo said, noting that although countries are making efforts to detect and control the international spread of infectious diseases, more needs to be done to effectively respond to them.

In particular, Dr. Sambo underlined the importance of countries implementing their plans under the International Health Regulations (IHR), which were agreed to by all African countries in 2007. While 43 out of the 46 Member States of the WHO African Region have conducted capacity assessment in line with IHR requirements, none has fully implemented their national IHR plans.

IHR aim to quickly identify an outbreak or any other public health threat, including chemical and radiological hazards that could have an international impact, so that a fast and effective response can be organized.

To implement the IHR plan, Dr. Sambo recommended countries carry out needs assessments to map unmet needs, mobilize and allocate adequate human and financial resources, strengthen surveillance systems and health laboratory capacities, and empower IHR focal points with the skills and resources that will ensure timely verification and notification of public health events to governments and WHO.

He also advised that, as a first step, countries should request a two-year extension to enable full implementation of IHR core capacities by 2014.

The WHO Regional Committee for Africa is the Organization’s governing body in the continent. There are currently 46 Member States in the region, and the Committee’s main functions entail formulating regional policies and programmes, and supervising the activities of the regional office.

(source: www.un.org)

Dalam Hal Jaminan Kesehatan, Indonesia Paling Belakang

JAKARTA (Pos Kota) – Banyak pihak menyayangkan negara sebesar Indonesia belum melaksanakan jaminan kesehatan semesta (universal health coverage) bagi rakyatnya.

Padahal negara termiskin di Afrika, Tanzania, Liberia dan Rwanda sudah melakukannya.

“Indonesia tergolong paling terbelakang dalam pelaksanaan program jaminan kesehatan rakyat semesta. Negara-negara yang tergolong kecil dan miskin saja sudah menyelenggarakan. Tapi, tak apalah, belum terlambat bagi Indonesia yang akan memulainya pada 1 Januari 2014,” sebut Direktur Eksekutif International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), Sugeng Bahagijo, dalam diskusi di Jakarta, Minggu.

Menurut Sugeng, Tanzania, Liberia dan Rwanda, negara kecil di Afrika itu sudah mengalokasikan anggaran untuk kesehatan rakyatnya sebesar 15 persen. “Sedangkan Indonesia mengalokasikan di bawah kisaran angka tersebut,” ujarnya.

Dia menyitir data dari Sekretariat Nasional Forum Indonesia untuk Trasparansi Anggaran (Seknas Fitra), periode 2005-2012, alokasi anggaran kesehatan dari belanja pemerintah rata-rata 2,2 persen.

“Problem kita menyelenggarakan jaminan kesehatan bukan pada ada atau tidaknya dana, tapi soal kemauan pemerintah. APBN kita sudah mencapai Rp1.650 triliun. Dari jumlah itu cuma diperlukan Rp30 triliun untuk menggelar Jaminan Kesehatan Universal,” kata Sugeng.

Menurutnya, dibandingkan negara lainnya di wilayah Asia Tenggara, pemerintah Indonesia dinilai ‘pelit’ dalam mengalokasikan anggaran untuk kesehatan. Contohnya di tahun 2006, pendapatan per kapita Indonesia sebesar 1.420 dolar AS dan anggaran untuk kesehatan dari total belanja pemerintah hanya 5,3 persen.

Namun, Vietnam, dengan pendapatan per kapita hanya 700 dolar AS, persentase belanja kesehatan terhadap total belanja pemerintah mencapai 6,8 persen.

Menurut Sugeng, jika enggan mengalokasikan dana APBN untuk Jamkes Universal, pemerintah Indonesia memiliki sumber dana lainnya yang dapat dimanfaatkan. Seperti, mengalihkan sebagian dana subsidi BBM untuk penyelenggaraan Jamkes Universal.

Sugeng mengingatkan, subsidi BBM yang dialokasikan pemerintah di tahun 2012 sebesar Rp123 triliun. Kata dia, setengah dari jumlah dana subsidi itu sudah lebih dari cukup untuk untuk menyelenggarakan Jamkes Universal bagi seluruh rakyat Indonesia.

Menteri Koordinator Bidang Kesejahteraan Rakyat (Menko Kesra) Agung Laksono memastikan regulasi pendukung operasional Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial (BPJS) Kesehatan rampung pada akhir November 2012. Regulasi tersebut merupakan amanat UU Sistem Jaminan Sosial Nasional (SJSN) dan UU BPJS.

Dia menuturkan dalam peraturan pelaksana UU No.40/2004 tentang SJSN mewajibkan membuat 7 peraturan pemerintah (PP) dan 3 peraturan presiden (Perpres).

“Untuk mendukung UU No.24/2011 tentang BPJS wajib dibuatkan 2 PP dan 3 Perpres,” tukasnya.

Agung memaparkan Dewan Jaminan Sosial Nasional (DJSN) sesuai tugas dan fungsinya bersama dengan kementerian terkait menyelesaikan 5 draf regulasi implementasi SJSN.

Draf regulasi itu adalah Rancangan Peraturan Pemerintah (RPP) Jaminan Kecelakaan Kerja, RPP Jaminan Hari Tua, RPP Jaminan Pensiun, RPP Jaminan Kematian, dan Rancangan Perpres Manfaat Jaminan Pensiun.

Menko Kesra menilai diperlukan proses yang intensif untuk tercapainya kompromi dan konsensus dari pemangku kepentingan. Proses itu antara lain menyakut besaran iuran oleh peserta dari berbagai segmen dan kewajiban pemberi kerja (pemerintah dan sektor swasta).

Secara terpisah, Direktur Utama PT Askes (Persero) I Gede Subawa menjelaskan, pihaknya siap melaksanakan amanat UU sebagai BPJS Kesehatan pada 1 Januari 2014. Askes pun terus berkoordinasi dengan seluruh stakeholder terkait seperti Kemenko Kesra, Kemenkes, Kemdagri, PT Jamsostek (Persero), dll.

(sumber: poskotanews.com)

WHO can’t shake off counterfeit drug controversy

The World Health Organization (WHO) has come under fire for allegedly blocking the attendance of non-governmental organisations at its latest meeting on counterfeit and otherwise illegal medicines in Buenos Aires.

The complaint has been raised by a group of academics led by Professor Amir Attaran from University of Ottawa, Canada, who have called for an international treaty to tackle the trade in what the WHO currently refers to as substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products.

The latest development comes against a backdrop in which efforts to coordinate an international, regulatory or legislative response to medicines counterfeiting have been routinely undermined by political and commercial in-fighting.

Attaran claims that NGOs are being kept away from the WHO meeting at the request of India, although India’s Health Ministry has denied the accusations. Another NGO – the World Federation of Public Health Associations – also says it has been excluded from the meeting.

The WHO’s executive board adopted a resolution earlier this year to set up a member state ‘mechanism’ to tackle the trade in counterfeit medicines from a public health perspective and without any consideration of intellectual property (IP) issues.

Last year, the WHO agreed to set up the intergovernmental working group to look into its handling of SSFFCs amid claims that counterfeits and legitimate generics were being conflated by those pursuing an IP rights agenda.

The Buenos Aires meeting is the first to be held since the mechanism was proposed, and has been convened to make decisions on the structure and governance of the platform. The agenda and documents from the ongoing meeting are available here.

Meanwhile, Attaran et al make the plea for an international treaty in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), in which they write that “the twin challenges of safeguarding the quality of genuine medicine and criminalising falsified ones has been held back by controversy over intellectual property rights and confusion over terms”.

The international treaty should follow similar lines to those already in place to help fight counterfeiting of banknotes since the 1920s, and the recently-agreed Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that will “legally mandate global tracking and tracing for tobacco products and internationally criminalise illicit trade”.

Among the measures proposed are a clear definition for the different types of illegitimate medicines – an attempt to tackle the oft-repeated claim that in some cases legislation confuses the term counterfeit with legitimate generic medicines – and the drawing up of specific crimes in international public health law on the manufacture, trafficking or sale of falsified medicines.

The academics also call for intergovernmental cooperation on the reporting, investigation and prosecution of falsification cases, including seizure of criminals’ assets, and the drawing up of standards to assist in the creation of a track-and-trace system for medicines.

“WHO’s member states should ask WHO staff to embark on a similar process to that which created the FCTC,” write the authors of the article.

(source: www.securingindustry.com)

BIBIR SUMBING: Kemenkes Tambah Jatah Operasi 86,4 Juta Pasien

KUTA: Kementerian Kesehatan menambah alokasi jaminan kesehatan masyarakat bagi pasien bibir sumbing dan langit-langit dari 76,4 juta orang menjadi 86,4 juta orang pada 2013.

Wakil Menteri Kesehatan RI Prof Ali Ghufron Mukti menuturkan kebijakan tersebut diiringi pula dengan penambahan ahli bedah dari Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Padjadjaran, Universitas Gajah Mada dan Universitas Airlangga.

“Saat ini baru 285 ahli bedah yang terlibat, padahal butuh 1.000 ahli bedah untuk menangani pasien di seluruh Indonesia,” katanya, Sabtu (18/11/2012).

Menurut dia perlu penambahan sekitar 615 ahli lagi untuk mencapai kuota tenaga ahli bedah yang dibutuhkan setiap tahun, dan pada 2014 minimal dapat mencetak tenaga bedah sebanyak 3.400 ahli bedah.

Kemenkes juga memotivasi para calon dokter bedah untuk mengikuti pendidikan beasiswa yang dilaksanakan di Amerika Serikat, Afrika Selatan dan Indonesia. Tiap tahun dialokasikan 5 beasiswa dengan dana Rp2 miliar per orang untuk 5 tahun masa belajar.

Terkait pelaksanaan Asian Congress of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (ACOMS) ke-10, 15-18 November 2012 di Kuta, Bali, Sekretaris ACOMS 2012 Asri Arumsari mengatakan

masyarakat internasional berencana menjadikan Indonesia sebagai pusat kajian pendidikan bedah bibir sumbing dan langit-langit. Saat ini di Indonesia terdapat 7.500 kasus bibir sumbing.

Asri menjelaskan banyaknya kasus tersebut tidak lepas dari jumlah populasi penduduk yang tertinggi keempat di dunia jumlah kelahiran dengan komposisi mereka yang berpotensi untuk cacat fisik karena faktor genetik, diperkirakan dalam rentan waktu kelahiran dijumpai 1 anak dari kelahiran 700 anak.

President the International Association of Oral and Maxillifacial Surgeons (IAOMS) Kishore Nayak mengemukakan salah satu pertimbangan Indonesia direncanakan sebagai pusat kajian bedah bibir sumbing dan langit-langit ini juga yaitu karena berkembangnya kasus baru seperti adanya kanker mulut.

(sumber : bisnis.com)

WHO deeply concerned with escalating situation in Gaza Strip

GENEVA (Xinhua) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said Saturday evening it is deeply concerned with the escalating situation in the Gaza Strip and Israel and its impact on the health and lives of civilians.

WHO said in a statement that before the hostilities began, health facilities had been severely over stretched mainly due to the siege of Gaza — there has been a lack of investment in training, equipment and infrastructure, poor maintenance of medical equipment and frequent interruptions of power supplies.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza was also facing critical shortages of drugs and disposables, according to WHO.

Consequently, Gazan hospitals are now having to deal with the growing number of casualties with severely depleted medical supplies.

WHO is working with its partners and local authorities to ensure that essential medicines and medical consumables are delivered to where they are needed most.

WHO has appealed to the international and regional community for urgent financial support to provide essential medicines to cover pre-existing shortages, as well as emergency supplies for treating casualties and chronic illness.

The death toll of Palestinians has risen to 45 since Wednesday afternoon, with another 500 people injured, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said Saturday night.

(source : philstar.com)

Hari Kesehatan Nasional Fokus Pelayanan Kesehatan Ibu

Kompas.com – Peringatan Hari Kesehatan Nasional (HKN) ke-48 tahun 2012 yang diperingati setiap tanggal 12 November akan memfokuskan pada pelayanan kesehatan ibu sebagai salah satu target MDGs yang belum tercapai.

“Tema HKN adalah Indonesia Cinta Sehat dengan subtema Ibu Selamat Anak Sehat yang dipilih karena merupakan sasaran prioritas pembangunan kesehatan,” papar Menteri Kesehatan Nafsiah Mboi yang menjadi inspektur upacara peringatan HKN 2012 di Kementerian Kesehatan, Jakarta, Senin (12/11/12).

Menurut Menkes, dalam pelayanan kesehatan ibu dan anak, cakupan persalinan oleh tenaga kesehatan telah meningkat secara bermakna dari 61,4 persen pada 2007 menjadi 87,4 persen pada 2011.

“Berkat upaya masyarakat, ibu-ibu kader bersama petugas kesehatan di Puskesmas, saat ini laporan menunjukkan bahwa 71 persen balita mengunjungi Posyandu setiap bulan. Ini berarti sekitar 14 juta balita memanfaatkan posyandu,” kata Menkes.

Pencapaian derajat kesehatan masyarakat ditandai antara lain dengan menurunnya angka kematian bayi (AKB), menurunnya angka kematian ibu (AKI), menurunnya prevalensi gizi kurang dan gizi buruk serta meningkatnya umur harapan hidup (UHH).

Di Indonesia data SDKI menyatakan AKB telah menurun dari 35 per 1.000 kelahiran hidup (2004) menjadi 34 per 1.000 kelahiran hidup (2007). Sementara AKI menurun dari 307 per 100.000 kelahiran hidup (2004) menjadi 228 per 100.000 kelahiran hidup (2007).

Meski telah mengalami penurunan yang cukup banyak, indikator AKB dan AKI dalam MDG masih jauh dari target yang ditentukan dan harus dicapai pada 2015.

Pemerintah masih harus bekerja keras untuk mencapai target MDG sesuai kesepakatan yaitu AKB 24 per 1.000 kelahiran hidup dan AKI 102 per 100.000 kelahiran hidup pada 2015.

“Peringatan HKN ke-48 ini akan dioptimalkan sebagai momentum untuk meningkatkan semangat, kepedulian, serta memantapkan kerja sama seluruh pihak untuk berjuang dalam mempercepat target MDG 2015,” kata Menkes.

Peringatan HKN 2012 di Kementerian Kesehatan diawali dengan pelaksanaan upacara, peresmian pameran foto “Ibu Selamat Anak Sehat”, pembukaan seminar skrining hipotiroid kongenital cegah keterbelakangan mental dam anemi defisiensi besi pada anak dan penandatanganan MoU antara Kemenkes dengan empat lembaga swadaya masyarakat (LSM) dan delapan pimpinan dunia usaha.

(sumber: health.kompas.com)

176 countries agree to eliminate illegal tobacco trade at WHO meeting

SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean Health Ministry official says 176 countries, including European Union members and China, have agreed on an international protocol to eliminate tobacco black markets.

If the protocol is ratified, the countries will be required to introduce systems to track tobacco products and regulate supply chains.

Illegal trade accounts for about 10 per cent of the tobacco market and results in lost tax revenue of $40.5 billion annually.

The agreement was reached at a meeting in Seoul of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The parties will also discuss guidelines on taxation.

The United States, Switzerland and Cuba are not bound by the pact since they are not parties to the convention.

(sumber: www.canadianbusiness.com)

PPNI: UU Keperawatan Perlu Segera Disahkan

Yogyakarta – Undang-undang Keperawatan perlu segera disahkan memberikan kepastian dan jaminan hukum bagi masyarakat yang akan memanfaatkan pelayanan keperawatan. Hal ini disampaikan Sekretaris Jenderal Persatuan Perawat Nasional Indonesia, Harif Fadilah.

“Undang-undang (UU) tersebut juga akan memberikan kepastian dan jaminan hukum bagi perawat dalam melakukan pelayanan kesehatan,” katanya pada konferensi Health Professional Education Quality (HPEQ) 2012, di Yogyakarta, Rabu (7/11).

Menurut dia dengan adanya UU tersebut diharapkan dapat meningkatkan aksesibilitas, keterjangkauan, mutu pelayanan keperawatan, dan mempercepat keberhasilan dalam meningkatkan derajat kesehatan masyarakat.

“Saat ini sekitar 40 persen puskesmas di Indonesia tidak memiliki dokter sehingga seluruh pelayanan kesehatan dilakukan oleh perawat. Kondisi itu menyulitkan perawat dalam memberikan pelayanan kesehatan,” katanya.

Contohnya, kasus perawat Misran di Kutai, diseret ke pengadilan karena memberikan pengobatan pada masyarakat akibat daerah tersebut tidak ada dokter dan apoteker.

“Hal itu terjadi karena tidak ada perlindungan hukum bagi perawat di puskesmas. Dalam hal ini tidak ada kejelasan pengaturan kewenangan dan metode pelimpahan wewenang,” katanya.

Ia mengatakan kejelasan kewenangan dan batasan tanggung jawab dalam pelayanan kesehatan penting untuk totalitas melayani masyarakat.

“Oleh karena itu perlu adanya pengaturan mekanisme pendelegasian wewenang dan sistem rujukan yang diatur dalam UU untuk meningkatkan cakupan dan kualitas pelayanan kesehatan,” katanya.

Ketua II Persatuan Perawat Nasional Indonesia (PPNI), Rita Sekarsari, mengatakan dalam pelayanan profesi keperawatan harus berbasis pada kompetensi dan dapat dipertanggungjawabkan pada masyarakat.

Oleh karena itu, menurut dia, “credentialing” atau bukti yang memperlihatkan kompetensi yang dipersyaratkan penting untuk menunjukkan kesiapan perawat sebagai profesi yang memberikan pelayanan secara profesional kepada masyarakat.

“Credentialing terdiri atas proses pemberian bukti formal atau sertifikasi, registrasi, dan lisensi. Credentialing untuk melindungi masyarakat dengan memastikan tingkat kompetensi profesional untuk menjamin kepedulian terhadap hak-hak pasien,” katanya.

(sumber: www.metrotvnews.com)

Yellow fever outbreak in Sudan’s Darfur region kills 67 – UN health agency

7 November 2012 – A yellow fever outbreak in Sudan’s Darfur region has killed 67 people so far, the United Nations health agency said today, adding that the number of cases has more than doubled since the start of the epidemic last month.

In a report, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the outbreak has now affected 17 localities in central, south, west and north Darfur, with 194 cases reported – a significant increase from the 84 initial cases reported at the start of the outbreak.

An estimated 200,000 cases of yellow fever, which is caused by a virus spread by mosquitoes, are recorded worldwide each year, with as many as 30,000 deaths reported, according to WHO. Patients experience jaundice, as well as other symptoms, such as fever and vomiting. There is no specific treatment for the disease and vaccination is the single most important measure for prevention.

In addition to monitoring the disease throughout Darfur, WHO said it is training more than 225 health workers in the region on disease surveillance, case management and infection prevention and control.

The health agency is also working with the Sudanese Ministry of Health to dispatch technical teams to help tame the outbreak by conducting investigations on new cases, meeting with local community leaders to raise awareness of the disease, and provide blood bank supplies as well as protective equipment to affected areas.

The report’s recommendations also include strengthening disease surveillance in eastern Darfur, continuing laboratory testing of patients from newly affected localities, and finalizing a vaccination plan that identifies resources available as well as partners to implement it.

(sumber: un.org)

Malaysia eyes attracting more foreigners for healthcare travel

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is promoting its hospitals and clinics as new tourism attractions besides tropical islands, fascinating beaches and rainforest, in an effort to brand the country as a healthcare travel destination.

Malaysian Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said on Tuesday that high-quality and reasonable rates of the country’s medical service is attracting more and more foreigner, with the number of foreign patients arrival achieved a impressive 48 percent increase to 583, 000 in 2011 compared with the previous year. The most appealing medical services is knee replacement, followed by cardiac care and cancer treatment, Liow said when opening the International Healthcare Travel Expo 2012, adding that Malaysia is “fast being recognized for the quality of its orthopedic treatment.”

Malaysian government is working to position the country as a preferable healthcare destination in the region. Liow said Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, an agency established by the government to develop and promote the healthcare travel industry, had set up a hotline for global enquiry.

The agency has opened representative offices in Dhaka, Bangladesh and in Jakarta, Indonesia, while its Hong Kong office would be operational next year, Liow said. A medical gallery would also be set up at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and similar facilities might be put in place at other important gateways to the country.

Liow later told a press conference that his ministry was looking at the Korea, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and China as increasing health tourists influx from these countries.

Meanwhile, Malaysia would promote traditional treatments like acupuncture from China besides modern medicine, he said.

( nzweek.com)