PPE Export Dilemma Amid Urgent Domestic Needs

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has not imposed a ban on the export of personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks even though the domestic needs are also urgent. Even so, Jokowi said that exports of personal protective equipment must be regulated in such a way so that domestic needs are fulfilled.

"In order to properly regulate the management related to exports and domestic needs. Don't let everything be exported, we can't even make it domestically. This is the best management, whether we can produce a lot of PPE, be it related to masks, we can produce. a lot of this needs to be regulated, "said Jokowi when opening a limited meeting on Optimizing the Domestic Industry for Handling COVID-19, Wednesday, April 15.

To the meeting participants, Jokowi said that the COVID-19 pandemic is currently occurring in 213 countries. In this condition, every country is competing to get medical equipment to deal with the spread of the virus. So, he hopes, the domestic industry can meet the need for medical devices to deal with COVID-19 in Indonesia.

In order for the domestic industry to move quickly, Jokowi then asked that there be a relaxation process in the permit granting process, so that there would be no more obstacles, including in the supply of raw materials. "Don't make it difficult. Please listen to the complaints below, so there is no longer such a thing as this licensing process hindering existing production," he said.

As for imported raw materials, the former Governor of DKI Jakarta reminded the Customs and Excise and the Ministry of Trade to make it easier to permit the entry of goods needed to make medical devices. "With regard to imports of raw materials, really, especially in the Customs and Excise, especially the Ministry of Trade, there has been relaxation so that a fast and integrated licensing process exists and helps them," he said.

Previously, Doni Monardo, Chair of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19, stated that the government had distributed 725 thousand personal protective equipment (PPE) to doctors, nurses and other medical personnel to the maximum extent to be protected from the dangers of COVID-19. Apart from PPE, there are also 13 million surgical masks and 150 thousand N-95 masks that have been distributed.

Even so, the task force seems to understand that the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical personnel will continue to increase along with the increasing number of cases of the spread of the corona virus in Indonesia. So, it is important for them to be able to meet these needs.

One way is to increase PPE production by using local components that are certified by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, Doni said that he had collaborated with a number of researchers and business actors to help make PPE production successful in dealing with COVID-19 patients.

"The team of task force experts assisted by researchers, researchers from various institutions, universities and the business world are trying to produce PPE using local and WHO certified components and can also produce ventilators in the future," Doni explained in a press conference broadcast on a YouTube account. courtesy of BNPB, Tuesday, April 14.