Govt Issues Regulation to Combat Disease Outbreak
President Joko Jokowi Widodo on 17 June, 2019 signed Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 4 of 2019 on Capacity Enhancement in Preventing, Detecting, and Responding to Outbreaks of Disease, Global Pandemic and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Emergencies (link: Presidential Instruction Number 4 of 2019) in order to improve national resilience capabilities in the face of public health emergencies and/or non-natural disasters due to epidemics, global pandemic and nuclear, biological and chemical emergencies that have national and/or global impacts.
The Instruction is addressed to: 1. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs; 2. Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture; 3. Minister of Home Affairs; 4. Minister of Foreign Affairs; 5. Minister of Defense; 6. Minister of Law and Human Rights; 7. Minister of Finance; 8. Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education; 9. Minister of Health; 10. Minister of Industry; 11. Minister of Communications and Informatics; 12. Minister of Agriculture; 13. Minister of the Environment and Forestry; 14. Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries; 15. Minister of National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas); 16. Cabinet Secretary; 17. Commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI); 18. Chief of the Indonesian National Police; 19. Head of the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB); 20. Head of the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM); 21. Head of the Nuclear Supervisory Agency (Bapeten); 22. Head of the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT); 23 Governors; and 24. Regents/Mayors.
“To make policies through evaluation, review, and/or improvement of laws and regulations and take steps in a coordinated and integrated manner according to their respective duties, functions and authorities in increasing the ability to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks, global pandemics, and nuclear, biological and chemical emergencies, which can have a national and/or global impact, “the FIRST dictum of the Instruction reads.
The Presidential Instruction instructs Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs to improve the capacity of Ministries and Institutions under its coordination in order to prevent, detect and respond to various events that may cause public health emergencies and/or non-natural humanitarian disasters.
The Presidential Instruction also instructs Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs to develop guidelines for synergy, cooperation and collaboration in planning, drafting, implementing and evaluating policies in order to improve the ability to prevent, detect and respond to events that may cause public health emergencies and/or non-natural humanitarian disasters; and to build an international cooperation framework in order to improve the ability to prevent, detect and respond to various events that could potentially lead to global public health emergencies in coordination with Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The President also instructs Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture to improve the capacity of Ministries and Institutions under its coordination in order to prevent, detect and respond to various events that may cause public health emergencies and/or non-natural humanitarian disasters; to develop guidelines for synergy, cooperation and collaboration in planning, drafting, implementing and evaluating policies in order to improve the ability to prevent, detect and respond to events that may cause public health emergencies and/or non-natural humanitarian disasters; and to build an international cooperation framework in order to improve the ability to prevent, detect and respond to various events that could potentially lead to global public health emergencies in coordination with Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The President instructs Minister of Home Affairs to: a. coordinate and facilitate regional governments in preventing, detecting and responding quickly to various diseases including Zoonoses and/or events that have the potential to cause public emergencies; and b. encourage regional governments and village governments to integrate into planning documents and allocate adequate budgets in overcoming various diseases including Zoonoses and/or events that have the potential to cause public health emergencies.
The President also instructs Minister of Foreign Affairs to: a. establish an international cooperation framework in order to prevent, detect and respond to the threat of world public health emergencies; b. improve coordination on international security in events that contain elements of intentionality; and c. improve coordination of cooperation across national borders in an effort to prevent, detect and respond to events that have the potential to cause public health emergencies.
The Presidential Instruction instructs Minister of Defense to “Improve coordination, synergy and cooperation in the deployment of defense sector resources to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies and/or non-natural disasters whether they are intentional or not.”
For Minister of Law and Human Rights, the President instructions are: a. to strengthen support for legislation related to strengthening global health security in Indonesia; b. to increase the monitoring of movement of people at the Immigration Checkpoint (TPI) which has the potential to cause public health emergencies; and c. to improve cooperation and synergy of Customs, Immigration, Quarantine, and Security in handling people suspected of being infected with infectious diseases.
The President instructed Minister of Finance to provide budget allocation for various actions to prevent, detect and respond to various diseases and/or events that could potentially lead to public health emergencies, strengthen supervision of goods entering or exiting Indonesian customs areas, and review and complete legislation related to goods traffic.
The Presidential Instruction also instructs Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education to: a. improve research and development in order to increase national capacity in order to prevent, detect and respond quickly to various diseases and/or events that have the potential to cause public health emergencies; and b. encourage cooperation in research laboratories and surveillance in national laboratory systems and improve the safety and biosafety of research laboratories. (Pusdatin/ES)
Translated by: Ridwan Ibadurrohman
Edited by: Mia Medyana
