Ministry Of Health: Health Bill Is More Comprehensive In Handling Outbreaks

Head of the Communication and Public Service Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi/screenshot via ANTARA

The Draft Law on the Health of the Omnibus Law is said to have presented a more comprehensive mechanism for handling the outbreak based on the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The handling of this extraordinary outbreak and event (KLB) will be more comprehensive because we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic," said Head of the Communication and Public Service Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 4.

Nadia said there were more than 350 articles in the Health Bill that regulated the handling of the outbreak. The provisions are divided into three phases, namely alertness, handling, and post-district and KLB.

According to Nadia, the Health Bill states that outbreaks and outbreaks are new infectious and non-communicable diseases, re-emerged diseases, or endemic diseases that have increased twice as large as ordinary events.

The Health Bill also accommodates the need for health human resources to be mobilized by health workers and people outside the existing health system.

For example, medical students who are still in school, recruitment of new graduates, volunteers, and others who are members of the Health Workers Reserve Team.

"Like during the earthquake yesterday in Yogyakarta, medical personnel, health workers, and other volunteers were ready," he said.

Nadia said the Health Bill also requires all hospital health care facilities, including the private sector to handle outbreaks and outbreaks.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were hospitals that did not want to accept COVID-19 patients because of the consideration of the readiness of facilities and infrastructure. Our proposal is that any health facilities are also required to handle the outbreak and KLB," he said.

Nadia said the Health Bill on the outbreak also expanded to the role of state entrance guards to carry out health screening.

His job is to oversee the Health Declaration and Health Quarantine documents for travelers to prevent the importation of diseases from abroad.

"The proposal for handling the epidemic and KLB is more comprehensive, ranging from definitions, countermeasures, vigilance, to post-regulations," he said.

The Health Bill also encourages the active role of the community in breaking the chain of disease transmission by complying with all forms of health protocols that are enforced.