Call of Health Workers: Danger Alarm from the Last Fortress
Jakarta, Friday 09 July 2021 In the first 9 days of July 2021 (14.00 WIB), LaporCovid-19 recorded at least 86 health workers who died due to Covid-19. The total number of health worker deaths recorded by LaporCovid-19 as of July 9 (14.00 WIB) was 1,183 health workers. A joint press conference with professional organizations concluded that protection for health workers is necessary, because many have been exposed to Covid-19. This can be implemented by zoning facilities…
PRESS RELEASE
Call of Health Workers: Danger Alarm from the Last Fortress
Jakarta, Friday 09 July 2021 In the first 9 days of July 2021 (14.00 WIB), LaporCovid-19 recorded at least 86 health workers who died due to Covid-19. The total number of health worker deaths recorded by LaporCovid-19 as of July 9 (14.00 WIB) was 1,183 health workers. A joint press conference with professional organizations concluded that protection for health workers is necessary, because many have been exposed to Covid-19. This can be implemented by zoning health facilities, shift systems, supplying PPE, supplements and vitamins to health workers.
In the press conference, dr. Adib Khumaidi, Sp.OT, head of the Mitigation Team for the Indonesian Doctors Association (PB IDI), said that as of July 8 2021, 458 doctors had died due to Covid-19. In June 2021, the increase in doctor deaths increased 7 times compared to May 2021, with 35 doctors dying in July alone..
Dr. Adib Khumaidi, Sp.OT also explained that many doctors were exposed amidst the explosion of cases. Many health workers have been exposed and this should be a concern for the government, especially in the East Java region. 124 doctors were sick in Surabaya, some were critical and even died. In Yogyakarta, 167 doctors were exposed, with several also dying. This affects the health services that can be provided to residents in the field.
Seeing this condition, dr. Adib Khumaidi said that this condition is functional collapse. The community's needs are very high (the flow of patients continues to flow), but many doctors are already sick, so if there is no intervention upstream, it will continue to pose a risk to health workers. For the sake of protection and security in health facilities, zoning is needed in health facilities and pre-hospital triage, There must be special facilities for Covid-19 only, apart from that there must be efforts to empower health workers with a shift system and ensure that they have certification to maintain the quality of public health services.
Regarding vaccinations with doctors but deaths are still high, Dr. Adib explained that 86 doctors died from February to June 24 2021, with 17 people receiving the complete vaccine, 4 people receiving 1 dose of vaccine. There are around 41% who have not been vaccinated, due to comorbid factors or being sick, but we are still investigating he said.
Apart from that, at this press conference, the Chair of the Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI), dr. Emi Nurjasmi, M.Kes said that the total number of midwives who died was 208, and 39 midwives died as of July 8 2021. The problem for midwives is that when a positive pregnant woman cannot be referred to a hospital, the patient must be handled by a midwife, even though the risk is already high, especially because of the facilities for Covid-19 is not sufficient, especially for independent clinics. In fact, because of the large number of patients, areas that are in self-isolation must also enter. said Dr. Emi at the press conference.
Dr. Emi Nurjasmi also stated that the deaths of health workers may also have been contributed to by the large number of midwives who were involved as vaccinators without complete PPE. Increased exposure also contributes to deaths among midwives, Even though all midwives have been vaccinated said Dr. Emi at the press conference.
The next speaker at this press conference was Harif Fadhilah, S.Kp, SH, M.Kep, MH, General Chair of the Central Management Board (DPP) of the Indonesian National Nurses Association (PPNI). He said that the pressure borne by nurses was enormous With cases increasing, and the number of nurses decreasing, the physical and mental burden also increases. In one week, the nurse even experienced physical violence during her service.
Harif also highlighted the double burden borne by nurses at community health centers. They have to vaccinate, with a high vaccination target, not to mention other tasks. Harif also focused on the very low level of protection for nurses, such as problems with incentives and health facilities for exposed nurses. Protection for nurses needs to be guaranteed in such a way. Booster vaccination may also need to be proposed, of course after receiving scientific approval and study review.
In line with Harif Fadhillah, S.Kp. SH, M. Kep, MH, Dr. A.V. Sri Suhardiningsih, S.Kp., M.Kes, representative of the PPNI East Java Regional Management Council (DPW), asks for protection for health workers Nurses are with patients 24 hours a day, so additional staff is needed. Because, we can see queues in the ER of up to 40-50 patients. This is because East Java accounts for the highest number of nurse deaths. Of the 373 nurses who died, 140 were nurses from East Java, with 22 deaths in July 2021.
However, Dr. A.V. Sri Suhardiningsih also highlighted the difficulty of obtaining additional personnel incentives that are difficult to disburse make volunteers reluctant to become additional staff. Dr. A.V. also noted that adding volunteers is not enough if upstream handling is not working, so the implementation of emergency PPKM must be carried out strictly, including the implementation of strict health protocols by residents.
Closing the press conference, dr. Aldila S. Al Arfah, from the Muhammadiyah Covid-19 Command Center, advised the government to improve public communication management and communication transparency, Communication aimed not at calming, but at stimulating a sense of crisis so that our focus is on Covid-19. We hope that leaders will be responsible for communication so that transparency in the Covid-19 pandemic situation is achieved.
The next thing, Dr. Aldila also highlighted the issue of incentives that should be disbursed immediately. If there is a problem of financial difficulties, re-regulation needs to be carried out. Apart from that, dr. Aldila also suggested that Mobilization of health workers from low case areas to Java - Bali also needs to be carried out so that health workers do not become exhausted. Regulating the supply and price of oxygen gas and medicine is also a problem that needs to be addressed, The government needs to be present to ensure the availability of this stock
QAbout ReportCovid-19
Formed by a group of individuals who are concerned about citizens' human rights and public health issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic. LaporCovid-19 is a platform for fellow citizens to share information regarding the number of incidents related to COVID-19 around us. Using approach citizen reporting or crowdsourcing so that every citizen can participate in conveying information about cases related to Covid-19 via chat with WhatsApp and Telegram bots.
Website: https://laporcovid19.org/
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Contact Person:
Zakiyuddin (+62 822-5015-4278)
