Bad Jabodetabek Air Quality, Ministry Of Health Provides Spirometry For Health Check Residents At Health Centers

Monas's view of the background of a multi-story building covered in pollution smoke in Jakarta, Monday, July 2019. (Between P)

Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government had prepared markers at health centers in areas with high levels of air pollution.

The provision of equipment to measure the volume of air entering and leaving the lungs is intended to support the detection of health problems due to air pollution, especially in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi or Jabodetabek.

In addition to providing markers at the puskesmas, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has alerted officers to deal with environmental health problems and the impact of air pollution.

The Minister of Health said air pollution could contribute to an increase in cases of lung cancer, tuberculosis, chronic lung disease, asthma, and pneumonia.

"In Jakarta before the COVID-19 pandemic, around 50 thousand people experienced the disease and now it has increased to 200 thousand cases. That is the result of air pollution," he said after attending the ASEAN Finance-Health Ministers Meeting in Jakarta, Thursday, August 24.

He said the Ministry of Health was primarily tasked with preventing and overcoming the impact of air pollution on public health.

"The Ministry of Health does not handle the cause, so my position (Kemenkes) is to encourage the upstream sector, namely the energy sector, transportation, the environment, so that it can reduce the emissions of these particles so that the downstream pressure is reduced," he said.

Budi stated that the problem of air pollution experienced by DKI Jakarta and major cities around it also occurred in other countries.

"What still provides optimism in us is that air pollution has occurred in various countries and can be controlled," he said.

He gave an example, China can overcome air pollution well and quickly ahead of the implementation of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.