Puan Maharani: Physical And Mental Health Workers Need Protection

Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani (Photo: Instagram)

JAKARTA - House of Representatives Speaker, Puan Maharani, highlighted the physical safety and mental health of health workers who are fighting at the forefront of handling COVID-19.

The reason is, the second wave of COVID-19 transmission has caused many health workers to fall because they face many times the risk compared to other community groups.

According to Puan, the task of the health worker is not only to help recover COVID-19 patients but also to protect themselves and their families from being infected with the Coronavirus.

"Therefore, we ask the government to create a protection system for health workers, both physically and mentally", said Puan in Jakarta, Friday, July 9.

She explained that the protection system for health workers is not only physically to protect themselves from infection, but also mentally.

“These health workers are exhausted, experiencing burnout, with a heavy workload that seems to have no end. Working hours are getting longer and the uncertainty of when the pandemic will end threatens their mental health", said Puan.

All these factors, he continued, affect the physical health of the health workers. If the health workers are exhausted or fall, the community is the one who is harmed.

For this reason, Puan assessed that the mental health of health workers is a vital and urgent issue for the government to pay attention to. With such a huge work pressure, she said, the health workers need greater physical and mental protection.

Based on data compiled by PERSI (Indonesian Hospital Association) along with several other organizations such as The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) and the Indonesian National Nurses Association (PPNI), from the beginning of the pandemic until June 28, 2021, there have been 1,031 health workers who have died. This number consists of 405 doctors, 43 dentists, 328 nurses, 160 midwives, and 95 other health workers.

“Indonesia has lost thousands of health fighters due to this pandemic. Moreover, with daily cases that continue to soar, the condition of the health workers is getting more and more worrying”, said Puan.

The chairman of the PDIP Fraction said the number of active health workers was also decreasing because many of them were still infected with COVID-19.

“I received reports that health workers who were exposed to COVID-19 also did not have much time to recover their health after being declared cured. When they are negative, they are immediately asked to return to work because the hospital is understaffed", she said.

Puan also asked the wider community to continue to appreciate the struggle of the health workers who are working hard at the forefront of handling the pandemic.

"We can help support these health workers by giving attention and appreciation, or in a more tangible form from friends, relatives, and relatives who work as health workers", said Puan.

"Or if you can't appreciate it, at least the community, especially the patient's family, to avoid misunderstandings or counter-productive accusations against the health workers, so as not to weaken them mentally and physically", she continued