Minister Of Health: Don't Forget Ladies And Gentlemen, Their Children Are Vaccinated

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin drops polio immunization at the Karawang Hospital (ANTARA/HO-Kemenkes)

JAKARTA - Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin invites parents to provide child immunization as an effort to prevent and protect the community from various dangerous diseases.

"Don't forget the father/mother of the children to be vaccinated so that the children are healthy," said Minister of Health Budi in a written statement received in Jakarta, Wednesday, August 3, quoted from Antara.

In the inauguration of the second phase of the National Child Immunization Month (BIAN) at the Karawang District Hospital, West Java, Wednesday, the Minister of Health said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the coverage of complete basic immunization for infants dropped dramatically, resulting in an immunity gap.

According to him, if this immunity gap is not immediately pursued, there will be an increase in cases and extraordinary events (KLB) which will become a double burden in the midst of a pandemic.

There are more than 1.7 million babies in Indonesia who have not received basic immunization during the 2019-2021 period. Of this number, there are more than 600 thousand or about 37.5 percent of babies from Java and Bali.

To catch up with low immunization coverage, the Ministry of Health held a two-stage BIAN. Phase I has been implemented since May 18, 2022 in the areas of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua.

The vaccines given are in the form of measles rubella immunization for ages 9 to 15 years, as well as catch-up immunizations for children aged 12 to 59 months who are not complete with OPV, IPV, and DPT-HB-Hib immunizations.

Meanwhile, phase II will be implemented from now on in all areas of Java and Bali. The vaccines given are measles rubella vaccine targeting ages 9 to 59 months, and catch-up immunization for children aged 12 to 59 months who are not fully immunized for OPV, IPV, and DPT-HB-Hib.

The declaration of BIAN phase II in West Java is a sign of the start of the implementation of immunization in all regions in Java-Bali.

Minister of Health Budi said the Ministry of Health added three new variants of vaccines in the children's basic immunization program, namely HPV for the prevention of diarrhea in toddlers.

Meanwhile, Governor Ridwan Kamil said the West Java government was committed to pursuing the target of 90 percent of measles rubella immunization coverage, and 80 percent of catch immunization coverage.

"We will continue to increase this coverage. Indonesian human resources must be healthy, diseases that have the potential to attack our children must be prevented by immunization," he said.

In West Java, there are about 332,400 children who have not been immunized. However, the BIAN report on the second day observed in 27 districts/cities in West Java showed that measles immunization coverage was 103,266 children or 3.1 percent, OPV immunization was 13,095 children, IPV immunization was 1,655 children, and DPT or Pentabio was 17,255 children.