Congratulations, Dr Moh. Adib Khumaidi SpOT Appointed To Chairman Of The Association Of Medicines In ASEAN

Dr. Moh. Adib Khumaidi SpOT who is also the Chair of PB IDI, was appointed as Chairman of the Association of Medicines Se-ASEAN or MASEAN. (IST)

JAKARTA - This year, the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), Dr. Moh. Adib Khumaidi, SpOT was appointed Chairman of the Medical Association of South East Asian Nations (MASEAN), the national medical association of ASEAN countries.

The handover of a mandate from the previous chairman of MASEAN, Dr. Nguyen Thi Xuyen, from Vietnam Medical Association to Dr. Moh Adib Khumaidi, SpOT from the Indonesian Medical Association was held in conjunction with the MASEAN meeting entitled Health Sector Recovery After Pandemic in Jakarta. Dr. Moh. Adib Khumaidi, SpOT will serve as Chairman of MASEAN until the end of 2024, while the Secretary General (Sekjen) of MASEAN will be held by Dr. Ng law Lip from Singapore Medical Association.

In his remarks as Chairman of MASEAN, Dr. Moh Adib Khumaidi, SpOT said, MASEAN recognizes the importance of closer ties among national medical associations in helping all levels of society in the ASEAN region to achieve the highest possible health levels, and realizes the need for cooperation and joint efforts in maintaining the dignity and standards of the medical profession. We also encourage the study and spread of all aspects of medical knowledge, competency equalization, including knowledge transfer."

The meeting and the handover ceremony of this leadership mandate took the theme of Health Sector Recovery After Pandemic to make the relationship between ASEAN countries stronger. Various things were discussed, especially the strengthening of professions during the pandemic recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of regional collaboration, through sharing information and the best practices in joint threat management. It also provides an opportunity to look into rediscovering the role of medical associations, such as providing reliable and timely medical information, said Dr Ng law Lip, Secretary General of MASEAN from the Singapore Medical Association.

The handover ceremony was also attended by the Head of the DKI Jakarta Health Service, drg Widyastuti, MKM, and members of the Indonesian Presidential Advisory Council, Major General Pol. (Ret.) Drs. H Sidarto Danusubroto, SH.

"They (doctors and health workers) are truly humanitarian heroes, who raise how Covid-19 is quickly resolved in Indonesia, that is extraordinary including the best. With MASEAN's leadership at Dr. Adib from IDI, it is hoped that doctors' organizations throughout ASEAN can increase cooperation. This is the time to strengthen the cooperation of ASEAN doctors in the context of knowledge exchange, cooperation and so on to overcome health problems," said Sidarto.

Founded on March 1, 1980, MASEAN consists of a national medical association that is recognized constitutionally from 10 ASEAN member countries. In addition to the Indonesian Doctors Association representing Indonesia, MASEAN also consists of medical medical organizations from Singapore (Singapore Medical Association), Malaysia (Malaysia Medical Association), Vietnam (Vietnam Medical Association), Thailand (Medical Association of Thailand), Philippines (Phillipine Medical Association), Brunei Darussalam (Brunei Medical Association), Cambodia (Cambodian Medical Association), Laos (Lao Medical Association), Myanmar (Myanmar Medical Association).

In addition to hosting MASEAN until 2024, the Indonesian Doctors Association has also hosted the World Medical Association in August 2022. The World Medical Association (WMA) even emphasized that it only recognizes the Indonesian Doctors Association as an Indonesian doctor organization. This was revealed by the Secretary General of WMA, dr Otman Kloiber at the time, International Code of Medical Ethics (ICoME), For us at WMA, the existence of professional organizations must also be single because it involves standardizing medical ethics for the safety of patients and the public, as well as doctors.IDI is a member of WMA and has a long history with WMA for 70 years.

Apart from being with the World Medical Association for more than 70 years, IDI is also one of the MASEAN initiators who is now more than 40 years old.