Public Discussion: The Indonesian Government's Failure to Save the People
Jakarta, 5 July 2021 Responding to the emergency situation of the pandemic occurring in society, the Community Consortium for Public Health consisting of YLBHI, LaporCovid-19, ICW and Lokataru together with the Institute for Research, Education and Economic and Social Information (LP3ES) provided a critical note on the handling of the pandemic in the country, especially in the midst of the explosion of Covid-19 cases which shows the failure of handling.
PRESS RELEASE
Public Discussion: The Indonesian Government's Failure to Save the People
Jakarta, July 5 2021 Responding to the emergency pandemic situation that occurred in society, the Community Consortium for Public Health consisting of YLBHI, LaporCovid-19, ICW and Lokataru together with the Institute for Research, Education and Economic and Social Information (LP3ES) provided a critical note on the handling of the pandemic in the country, especially in the midst of the explosion of Covid-19 cases which shows the failure of handling.
The spike in Covid-19 cases in Indonesia has increased deaths. As of July 4 2021, national data recorded that at least 60,582 people who died were confirmed positive through PCR swab results. The actual number of deaths related to Covid-19 is estimated to be much higher. This is because the data does not include the number of those who died by status probable, or who are experiencing clinical symptoms of the infectious disease Covid-19.
Conditions in the field are getting worse, data collected by LaporCovid-19 from mass media and social media reports shows that up to July 4 2021, 291 people died while self-isolating at home. This is in line with reports of dozens of people dying because they did not receive oxygen assistance in the emergency room at Sardjito Hospital (Kompas, 4 July 2021). This is a real portrait of the collapse of health facilities which is causing Covid-19 patients to have difficulty getting proper medical services. Apart from that, the number of health workers who are infected and who die is increasing. As of July 5 2021, Pusara Digital LaporCovid-19 recorded at least 1,046 health workers who died due to Covid-19. On the other hand, the government has not been seen to increase 3T, testing, tracing, And treatment significantly.
Coupled with the low transparency of pandemic data, including data on the number of PCR tests per region, hospital availability data is often inaccurate, resulting in many residents being turned away from one hospital to another. Testing is still low and disproportionate, resulting in a large spike in cases resulting in treatment (treatment) some health service facilities that almost collapsed.
Sick residents found it difficult to get medical services, some of them died.
Irma Hidayana, initiator of LaporCovid-19, said that these deaths could have been prevented if the government had carried out stronger prevention and control of transmission from the start. The current situation is the result of the ineffectiveness of prevention and control carried out so far. We can see that for half a year the pandemic period was dominated by easing
social, including prioritizing economic interests above public health. The government needs to acknowledge that the situation is an emergency and apologize and show empathy. We need to stop communicating that conveys the image that we are fine, which actually results in low public awareness regarding the massive transmission of Covid-19.
Furthermore, Muhammad Isnur from YLBHI, stated firmly that the government was responsible for this crisis condition, in accordance with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution and the Human Rights Law where the right to health is guaranteed by the state. The government also ignores laws and regulations, especially Law no. 6 of 2018 concerning Health Quarantine where this law actually has a strong epidemiological study.
Muhammad Isnur criticized the absence of a PP regarding Law no. 6/2018 concerning Health Quarantine which has made the current situation chaotic because there is a legal vacuum which has resulted in overlapping policies and commands. However, the government did not use laws specifically created to deal with the pandemic, and the government neglected to carry out the mandate to form derivative regulations such as the Government Regulation on Public Health Emergency Management. The non-use of Law 24/2007 concerning Disaster Management invalidates government policies to meet the basic needs of the community.
The President has also made a presidential decision regarding the status of a Public Health Emergency, a status which also has no clear indicators and whether this is still valid, what the authority is and so on because the procedures for determining and revoking a public health emergency status should also be regulated in a Government Regulation. Not to mention the obligation to fulfill people's basic needs during a public health emergency and disaster emergency, it is clear that the government has not fulfilled it.
Regarding the stipulation of emergency PPKM, there is also no legal basis, Muhammad Isnur said PPKM status is carried out by instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs, but there is no legal basis, no law.
Herlambang Wiratraman emphasized three failures. First, the high number of Covid-19 cases. The second failure was the collapse of the hospital, the unavailability of oxygen so that many residents died. The third failure is the high number of health workers who die.
The government's failure occurred because the government neglected, instead of closing and limiting mobility, it instead promoted mobility through tourism. The second cause is the government's slow response to the explosion of cases, and also the instructions issued must be issued by the President, not at the Ministry level based on law. Third, the government is too focused on the economy. Fourth, the government still denial cases will explode. Fifth, the government is not systematically pursuing 3T efforts, and is silencing those who speak out or criticize the handling of the pandemic.
The failure of the Government's lack of seriousness in handling the Pandemic, managed without taking sides, many people will be vulnerable to becoming victims. Does today's government have no sense of sensitivity, no concern for the rights of the nation's citizens? Isn't Article 28I paragraph (4) The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia explains who should be responsible? Specifically, Article 28H paragraph (1) states: Every person has the right to health and the right to obtain health services; and Article 34 paragraph (3): The state is responsible for providing health service facilities. The critical question asked by Herlambang responded to the government's failure.
According to Herlambang Wiratraman, the number of lives that were not saved due to the collapse of hospitals is a form of failure of the Jokowi government. Deaths that could not have been anticipated by the provision of medical services, demonstrate a clear fact of state failure and can be referred to as constitutional failure. The Jokowi government must apologize publicly and affirm its legal and political responsibilities explained Herlambang Wiratraman.
Next, Lalola Easter from ICW, focused on the causes of corruption during the pandemic. The government has taken the wrong steps from the start, there is still a lot of low budget absorption for handling Covid-19, and ironically, infrastructure programs that are not urgent are still being continued. The budget realization should have been focused on controlling the pandemic so that hospitals have collapsed. Corruption makes the pandemic worse, because actually the Covid-19 budget absorption can be increased to increase the capacity of health facilities.
We see that the government does not really listen to the voices of its people. The emergency of the current situation shows that the voices of public health experts, sociologists, students, and many others who are not affiliated with the government who are shouting at the top of their lungs for warnings and with good intentions to help control the pandemic are being ignored. The government doesn't seem to have one sense of crisis, has no empathy for the families who have been fighting to save lives and ended up dying due to not getting medical help.
For this reason, once again, for the umpteenth time, we urge the government to take extraordinary steps to reduce the rate of pandemic emergencies, including the following:
- Apologize to the public for this situation, and provide concrete assistance solutions to families who are struggling to get hospital treatment/ICU/and other medical services;
- Implement stricter restrictions than Micro PPKM, namely by pressing for leeway for essential sector workers to reduce the rate of movement and transmission of the virus at the community level;
- The government must update data in real time, which does not just write down statistical figures, but must reflect actual conditions.
- Increase all surveillance efforts, including massively and significantly increasing testing and simplifying testing and vaccination coverage;
- End communication that portrays a good image of the situation and switch to risk communication that is empathetic, accountable and reflects emergencies in the community and actual health facilities in the field, thereby raising awareness among the community to comply with health protocols.
Contact Person:
Lya Anggraini: +628774075033
Firdaus: +6287838822426
The press release resulting from this public discussion can be downloaded via the following link.
