Indonesia's Child COVID-19 Death Rate Is The Highest In The World Evidence Of The Handling Of The Pandemic Hasn't Been In Favor Of Children

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JAKARTA - The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) views that the handling of COVID-19 in Indonesia has not been in favor of children. Because, currently cases of COVID-19 in children and the death rate is quite high.

"The case of infection in children reflects that the handling of COVID-19 in Indonesia has not been in favor of children. There are conditions that are not optimal to protect children as one of the vulnerable groups against COVID-19," KPAI Commissioner Retno Listyarti told reporters, Monday, June 28.

Looking at the data compiled by the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI), the proportion of positive cases of COVID-19 in children aged 0 to 18 years in Indonesia is 12.5 percent.

"This means that 1 in 8 positive cases of COVID-19 are children," he said.

In fact, the trend of cases of infection in children on a global scale always ranks the lowest. In fact, the proportion of COVID-19 infections in children globally is only about 3 percent.

Worse, the death rate or case fatality rate of COVID-19 in children in Indonesia is the highest in the world, at 3 percent to 5 percent of the total confirmed positive children.

Not to mention, the complex health situation of children, such as malnutrition and stunting, will worsen the condition of children infected with COVID-19. Moreover, hospitals in Indonesia are not yet equipped with a special ICU room for children infected with COVID-19.

"This is the cause of the high child mortality rate, because children who are experiencing a critical period are often not helped due to the absence of an ICU room," said Retno.

Therefore, Retno views that the government needs to take concrete and planned steps to save children infected with COVID-19, as well as prevent transmission.

Retno recommended strengthening the examination (testing), tracing (tracing), and treatment (treatment) or 3T which can significantly be used as an indicator to prevent early treatment of children infected with COVID-19.

"When the 3T scheme for adults is still not sufficient, then Covid-19 cases in children will be slow to detect. This has the potential to make child deaths high, especially since Indonesia does not have a special ICU room for children infected with COVID-19," said Retno .

Not only that, Retno also asked the government to complete basic immunizations for toddlers and children. This is because the intensity of this program has decreased during the pandemic. Then, Retno also asked to postpone the opening of schools with face-to-face learning (PTM) at the beginning of the upcoming new school year.