Category: Berita

Jakarta – Experts have pegged the annual cost of air pollution in Jakarta at 38 trillion rupiah (RM12.2 billion), a figure they blame largely on the proliferation of cars and the use of low-quality subsidised fuel.

Ahmad Syarifuddin, chairman of the Committee to Phase Out Leaded Gasoline (KPBB), claimed on Thursday that vehicle emissions accounted for almost all the air pollution in the capital.

He said data gathered by the KPBB showed that health costs and lost productivity as a result of air pollution amounted to 38 trillion rupiah in 2010, and was believed to have increased since then with more vehicles hitting the city’s streets.

“The air pollution we’re dealing with includes dust particle, hydrocarbons, sulfur and so on, which can cause a range of illnesses such as asthma, respiratory tract infections, bronchitis, pneumonia and heart disease,” Ahmad said at a seminar here with the theme of “Fuel Economy Initiative in Indonesia.”

He warned that the costs would only keep increasing as long as there were no fundamental changes in transportation policies, including phasing out the use of low-grade subsidised fuel and enforcing emissions restrictions.

Ahmad urged the government to introduce cleaner fuels in a bid to limit the types of pollutants being emitted from vehicles.

“Our target is ultimately to see vehicle emissions slashed to 10 per cent of what they are now,” he said.

“So if a vehicle has a hydrocarbon emissions rating of 2,500 ppm (parts per million), then we want to see it come down to 250 ppm.

“Low-emissions vehicle technologies are already available, but they will only be effective as long as the quality of the fuel being used is good,” he added.

The most widely consumed vehicle fuel in the country is premium petroleum from Pertamina, which has an octane rating of 88 and is sold at a subsidised price of 4,500 rupiah a litre.

Ahmad argued that if the subsidy could be scrapped, or even just eased back to allow a price increase, the government would be able to offer a fuel with a higher octane rating and by extension better emissions characteristics and fuel economy.

“The government sells subsidised fuel at 4,500 rupiah a litre (with) an octane rating of 88, whereas the subsidy was actually calculated based on a fuel with an octane rating of 96 and price of 5,700 rupiah a litre,” he said.

(sumber : btimes.com.my)

The full implementation of the healthcare insurance plan, targeted to kick off in 2014, may be derailed by private company workers who oppose the proposed obligation to pay a portion of the premium.

Officials from the Health Ministry and the National Social Security Council (DJSN) said it would be impossible to fully realize the goal of universal health care by 2014 as mandated by the 2010 Law on the Medium Term National Development Plan.

“The 2010 law stipulates that by 2014, universal health coverage is targeted to have covered at least 80 percent of the population. However, that’s unlikely to happen because the workers union of private companies [SPSI] opposes the idea to share the cost of the insurance premium with their companies,” said Theresia Ronny Andayani, a researcher at the ministry.

She was speaking on behalf of Deputy Health Minister Ali Ghufron Mukti at the 29th ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) board meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali on Tuesday.

According to her, currently only 10 percent or around 6 million private workers are covered by state insurance company PT Jamsostek.

“By 2014, the employees are expected to pay 2 percent of the premium, while their companies will pay 3 percent.”

Health insurance is the first priority to be implemented among the seven healthcare reform priorities, which include improving health services in remote areas, availability of pharmacy and health equipment in all health facilities, bureaucracy reform, health operational assistance and the establishment of world-class hospitals.

While emphasizing that no other country in the world had managed to achieve 100 percent universal healthcare coverage, DJSN chairman Ghazali Situmorang said, “It’s impossible to fully implement universal healthcare by 2014. Instead, we are targeting to realize the target by 2019, or within five years after 2014.”

At present, only about 139 million people out of the country’s overall population of 236 million have access to healthcare. “But they receive widely varied services, because the standard of every provider is different. By 2014, we plan to be able to intensively synchronize the diverse standards in medical services,” Ghazali said.

“No matter how visionary the policy, the ultimate matter lies in the implementation. Good government matters and the future of social security depends on the social security organizations and stakeholders,” said International Social Security Association (ISSA) president Frank Errol Stoove.

The 29th ASSA board meeting was held on Sept. 25-26 and saw the participation of social security stakeholder representatives from Indonesia, Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the ISSA and the International Labor Organization.

PT Jamsostek president director Elvyn G Masassya, as the host of the ASSA meeting, highlighted that the meeting served as a forum for Indonesia’s social security stakeholders to share and learn from experiences in the region in terms of how to increase contributions, how to widen coverage, how to develop sophisticated administrative systems and how to effectively convey to the public the urgency of social security.

Parikesit Suprapto of the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry assured that the government remained committed to realizing the goal of universal healthcare.

“The ministry provides guidance for state-owned insurers PT Askes and PT Jamsostek, which are appointed as social security providers, to prepare more accurate databases and IT enhancements to support the establishment of better universal health coverage services and infrastructure,” said Parikesit.

(sumber: thejakartapost.com)

MORTALITY RATES: Improving quality of life of the newborn is crucial, says Razali Ritonga

THE performance of a nation in the health sector is usually reflected in indicators, such as mortality rates and life expectancy.

The lower the mortality rate and the higher the life expectancy, the better the health programme in that country.

Unfortunately, the health programme in Indonesia shows a low performance, as indicated by a high mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate.

For every 1,000 live births, 19 die within a month. In industrialised countries, neonatal mortality stands at four per 1,000 live births according to the World Health Organisation in 2008.

Therefore, the government should seek every opportunity to bring down the neonatal mortality rate. This is crucial since Indonesia faces a demographic dividend that started in 2010 and will last until 2050. The demographic dividend is expected to peak in 2025.

This will create a window of opportunity for Indonesia to reach a higher potential economic growth and welfare status, since the proportion of the population at a productive age exceeds that of a non-productive age.

A shrinking, young population could allow the government to save its budget and invest in economic activities and human wellbeing.

However, hopes of reaching those goals may not be realised if the government fails to improve the quality of the population who will enter the labour market in 2020-2050. One segment of that population is those aged below 1.

The importance of bringing down the neonatal mortality rate is also shown by the higher contribution of this to infant mortality (under 1) and child mortality (under 5). The contribution of neonatal mortality to infant mortality is about 60 per cent, and to child mortality it is about 40 per cent (WHO, The State of the World’s Children, 2008).

Generally, the causes of neonatal deaths are pneumonia, infections and diarrhoea. The “Neonatal survival series 2005” in the medical journal, The Lancet, reported that at least three out of four million neonatal deaths in the world could be anticipated if 90 per cent of pregnant women had access to health services.

Although Indonesia on average reached that percentage, health services for pregnant women remained below standard. The results of a demographic and health survey in 2007 reported that only 73 per cent of pregnant women received anti-tetanus injections, only about 77 per cent of pregnant women consumed iron pills and only 46 per cent of pregnant women gave birth at health facilities.

There are reasons for the failure to provide pregnant women with access to health services. The World Bank (2006) outlined four reasons that brought about the low coverage of pregnant women with access to health services in developing countries.

The first is low education and knowledge. The majority of pregnant women in developing countries lack knowledge on how to manage their pregnancies.

Second is women’s exclusion from decision-making. In fact, pregnant women might know that they have to visit health services, but their husbands sometimes do not give them permission.

Third is a lack of health facilities. This aspect becomes a major problem in some regions in Indonesia, especially remote areas where health facilities are rare.

Fourth are non-technical aspects, such as pregnant women who are not ready to undergo medical treatment provided by male doctors or medical workers.

The government needs to take these four factors into consideration in delivering health services. Although the government, for example, gives pregnant women free access to health services, it is not a guarantee that they are ready to come and visit health centres.

Based on those reasons, it comes as no surprise that the health budget is enjoyed by higher-income groups rather than those in lower-income brackets. Surveys conducted by the World Bank in 2004 in 21 countries discovered that 20 per cent of high-income groups received 25 per cent of the total health budget, compared with 15 per cent that went to 20 per cent of low-income groups.

It is, therefore, high time for the government to increase its health budget and distribute it fairly in order to reduce the mortality rate, especially in the neonatal group. The government cannot rely on women to treat their children themselves.

It needs to do more to increase the quality of life of the population, especially newborn babies. Years from now, they will not only become productive workers but will also be taking over leadership positions in the country.

Failure to improve their quality of life will mean that Indonesia will waste the population dividend and perhaps lead the nation to the brink of disaster.

(sumber : nst.com.my)

A new and potentially fatal virus from the same family as SARS which was discovered in a patient in London last week appears not to spread easily from person to person, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

In an update on the virus, which has so far killed a Saudi man and made a patient from Qatar critically ill, the United Nations health agency said it was working with international partners to understand the public health risk better.

“From the information available thus far, it appears that the novel coronavirus cannot be easily transmitted from person to person,” it said in a statement.

The WHO put out a global alert on Sunday saying a new virus had infected a 49-year-old Qatari who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia, where another man with the same virus had died.

The Qatari was described as critically ill on Tuesday and is being treated in a London hospital. No new confirmed cases of infection with the virus have since been reported, the WHO said.

The new virus shares some of the symptoms of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, another coronavirus, which emerged in China in 2002 and killed around a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide.

Both patients who have so far been confirmed with the new virus suffered kidney failure.

SEVERITY

“Given the severity of the two laboratory confirmed cases, WHO is continuing to monitor the situation in order to provide the appropriate response, expertise and support to its member states,” the WHO statement said.

Scientists at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease in the European Union, said initial virology results and the separation in time of the only two confirmed cases suggest the infection may have developed from animals. Such diseases are known as zoonoses.

“(It) is quite probably of zoonotic origin and different in behaviour from SARS,” the scientists wrote in a “rapid communication” study in the online journal Eurosurveillance.

Asked about transmission and the possibility of animal to human spread, WHO spokesman Glenn Thomas said investigations were continuing.

“But from the evidence we have, and given that there are only two cases confirmed so far and there was a distance and time distance between the two cases, (the) assumption is that it isn’t easily transferable person to person,” he told reporters.

The WHO’s clinical guidance to its 194 member states says health workers should be alert to anyone with acute respiratory syndrome and requiring hospitalization who had been in the Middle East where the virus was found or in contact with a suspected or confirmed case within the previous 10 days.

The U.N. agency has not recommended any travel restrictions in connection with the new virus, but said it was working closely with Saudi authorities on health measures for Muslims making the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Health experts said rapid progress has already been made in figuring out the nature and genetic makeup of the new coronavirus, and in coming up with tests.

“We are developing with our partners sensitive and specific diagnostic assays and these should be available in the next few days,” Thomas told a briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva.

“If any national authority is concerned about a patient who is under investigation, if they want to contact us, we can put them in touch with these laboratories and provide initial tests for any cases which are suspicious,” he added.

(sumber: windsorstar.com)

The deadline to meet the Millennium Developmental Goals is only three years away, causing many UN officials to reflect. The ability to achieve these goals is still a matter of much debate, as countries who have pledged help are now falling short of in their promises.

However, the question raised during this year’s General Assembly is the matter of what should be done once the deadline has been reached and the goals (ideally) met? This was the matter at hand for the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda held at UNHQ on September 25.

Hosted by the Permanent Mission of Japan, the panel was composed of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark, Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning Amina J. Mohammed, and led by Minister of Foreign Affairs in Japan Koichiro Gemba. While there was importance placed on the fulfillment of the MDGs by the allotted time, the event was meant to invite high-level stakeholders, NGOs, and private foundations to discuss and establish a new global agenda, hopefully to be built upon the success of the MDGs.

“Achieving the MDGs we have is still a top priority,” declared Clark. “The international willingness to support a new Global Agenda will be influenced by how successful the MDG process has been seen to be.”

Panelists brought forth evidence for newfound ideas based on what has already been working in favor of achieving the goals. The presentations underlined the status of the current hard work, and also reinforced the idea that those who wish for change cannot afford to wait for a recipe to be formulated.

“The evidence of what has worked in MDG achievement needs to inform the Post-2015 agenda,” Clark stated. The UN task team proposed three main principles, based on global trends, for the post-2015 agenda: “Achieving human rights, reducing inequality, and ensuring sustainability.” Panelists decided that proposals for future goals should be limited and concrete so as to better achieve economic and social development, environmental sustainability, peace, and security.

To reach consensus about the future goals, many of the contributions that have been discussed within the UN forums and Rio+20 conference will contribute to the new agenda. However, Ms. Clark highlighted the importance of the participatory process on a worldwide scale.

“We also need to find ways to fully incorporate the voices and priorities of the world’s citizens, civil society groups, and independent experts,” Clark said. “To these ends, the UN development group has begun a rather large consultation exercise, with national level dialogues being organized in at least 50 developing countries.”

Clark and Mohammed both expressed their hope for constructive dialogue and discussions in order to contribute to an ambitious post-2015 Development Agenda that aims at eradicating poverty, building a greener environment, and reach a more equitable future for the world’s peoples.

(sumber : blog.mediaglobal.org)