By: Barra Dwi Rajendra )*
The Health Bill (RUU) was passed into law at the plenary meeting of the DPR, last Tuesday (11/7). The ratification of this regulation is considered appropriate because it is not only in favor of health workers but also the community, especially during an epidemic.
The DPR has initiated the Health Law for the sake of the people, and its ultimate goal is to improve the health system. With a systematic and effective system it will be beneficial, both for health workers (Nakes) and for the community. An improved system will minimize malpractice and errors during treatment.
Not only that, the Health Law will also maximize the handling of outbreaks in Indonesia. Previously, Doctor Siti Nadia Tarmizi, Head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Services of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, stated that the Health Bill presented a more comprehensive mechanism for dealing with outbreaks based on the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doctor Siti Nadia added, memories of outbreaks and extraordinary events (KLB) will be more comprehensive because the government and the Ministry of Health have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. There are more than 350 articles in the Health Bill that regulate the handling of outbreaks. The provisions are divided into three phases, namely vigilance, handling, and post-epidemic and outbreaks.
The Health Law also states that epidemics and outbreaks are new communicable and non-communicable diseases, re-emerging diseases, or endemic diseases that have doubled the usual incidence. This law also obliges all hospital health care facilities, including the private sector, to handle epidemics and outbreaks.
According to doctor Siti Nadia, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were hospitals that did not want to accept COVID-19 patients due to considerations of the readiness of facilities and infrastructure. The suggestion from the Ministry of Health is that any health facility is also required to handle outbreaks and outbreaks.
In a sense, the Health Law will optimally handle outbreaks, pandemics and outbreaks. If later there is another outbreak or outbreak then the government and the Ministry of Health can act quickly, so that the handling will be much better. That way, outbreaks and pandemics will be overcome quickly and not spread throughout Indonesia.
Learning from handling the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lack of coordination due to the new type of disease. As a result, the corona spread not only in DKI Jakarta, but also throughout Indonesia. Therefore there needs to be prevention efforts if there is another outbreak or pandemic, and one of them is by passing the Health Bill.
The Health Law exists because the government learned from experience in handling the corona pandemic for 3 years. If there is this law, it will be implemented throughout Indonesia, so that when there is a new disease it can be handled quickly. Indonesian citizens will also not be infected because they have been given socialization about ways to prevent it.
Handling outbreaks and outbreaks is very important because health is everything. Don’t let there be many fatalities like during the COVID-19 pandemic which killed millions of Indonesian citizens. Prevention is better than cure, therefore the Health Bill must be passed immediately.
Meanwhile, the Health Law is also very useful for improving the health system, so that all people are healthy and fit. With a more regular system, it will prevent outbreaks and dangerous diseases throughout Indonesia.
Previously, Health Policy Expert, Dr. Hermawan Saputra, MARS. CICS said the Health Bill was urgently needed to improve the national health system (SKN) in Indonesia. Included in the issue of improving public health.
Dr. Hermawan continued, Indonesia really needs a law that represents our national health system because so far the existing regulatory system has been partially fragmented and sometimes not harmonious between one policy and another.
Based on Presidential Decree No. 72 of 2012, the National Health System is health management organized by all components of the Indonesian nation in an integrated and mutually supportive manner to ensure that the highest degree of public health is achieved.
However, the implementation of SKN in Indonesia is considered to be ineffective due to overlapping regulations. Hermawan said that there are many regulations equivalent to the Health Bill which cannot represent and guarantee health services or efforts to protect the health of the Indonesian people.
The Health Law will handle outbreaks, pandemics and outbreaks more optimally. With better and more orderly regulations, there will be epidemic prevention and control, so that all Indonesian people will be protected from various dangerous diseases. The Health Law needs to get broad support from elements of society which are expected to improve national health services.
)* The author is Angkasa Media One Contributor
