UNAIR NEWS – The Covid-19 pandemic has made health the most valuable and priceless item, as stated by Vice Governor of East Java, Dr. H. Emil Elestianto Dardak B.Bus., M.Sc., in his remarks at the 52nd edition of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) international conference on October 27, 2021. As the initiator, Faculty of Public Health (FKM) UNAIR seeks to present various latest research results related to enormous public health problems.
In addition to providing various research results, FKM UNAIR has also launched various innovations and updates related to public health sciences and related disciplines. The ranging scientific approaches aim to end the pandemic. Therefore, APACPH, with one hundred members, has been trying to solve this problem by developing health policies and laws, optimizing global health funds, and committing to politics to prioritize health.
APACPH also presents awards for figures who have played a role in public health. One of the awards is the APACPH Excellence in Leadership Medallion Award, an award for leaders in the legislature whose actions significantly affect public health. The award was given to Dr. (HC). Tri Rismaharini, Ir. MT (Mayor of Surabaya 2011-2020) and Prof. Dr. Mohammad Nasih, SE., MT., Ak. (UNAIR Rector). The UNAIR Rector was very proud to welcome all participants in the 52nd edition of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) international conference.
“It is a great recognition for Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) to host a very prestigious international event,” he said enthusiastically.
In the press conference, Dr. Santi Martini, dr., M.Kes., as the Dean of FKM UNAIR invited the community and government to be more focused and serious in carrying out vaccination programs. She explained that the vaccination rate in neighboring countries is already very high, so the mortality rate is relatively very low. Based on these facts, she agreed that Indonesia’s vaccination rate should be even higher.
“Therefore, Indonesia (the vaccination) should be 80 percent if possible, not 70 percent anymore. Therefore, if someone gets sick, the symptoms won’t be so bad or burdensome for the hospital anymore,” she said.
“I told my friends who work for the civil service and the likes to get vaccinated immediately. With this vaccination, we can reduce the reservoir for the virus to mutate,” she added.
According to Dr. Santi, we also need to limit and watch foreigners from countries with high transmission rates. According to her, all elements of society and the government should be learning from the pandemic problems. Although all countries have learned from previous pandemic problems, in fact, many countries seem to remain shocked about how to handle the pandemic.
“We should make a list now, while we have decreased the number of infections. We should maintain the teamwork that we have built for more than a year. Countries (red list) must not enter carelessly. Even if they enter, they must be strictly quarantined. Don’t let the previous mistakes happen anymore,” she said.
“We also encourage the public to be more obedient to comply with health protocols. Every public place and workplace must have a task force to monitor compliance with health protocols. Then randomly, the government must conduct an antigen swab from time to time for evaluation,” she concluded (*).
Author: Muhammad Ichwan Firmansyah Editor: Feri Fenoria
