[ad_1]
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
From the stories of people who knew him personally, Terawan Agus Putranto known as a good person. He smiled and served. Some of his patients while still serving at the Gatot Subroto Army Central Hospital came from high-ranking military and civilian officers, including the late Ms. Joko widodo, Sujiatmi Notowihardjo.
As director of RSPAD, Terawan came into the limelight after his “brainwashing” therapy was claimed to be effective for stroke patients. This therapy resulted in a suspension recommendation from the IDI Board of Medical Ethics in 2018 because it was deemed not scientifically proven, but had already been applied to patients.
It does not weaken his career, it can be said that this recommendation will increase Terawan’s luck. President Joko Widodo appointed Terawan as Indonesia’s highest medical official, indifferent to various warnings, including those from MKEK IDI.
That luck is now being tested. After six months of being crushed by the pandemic, Terawan’s position was constantly being questioned. Not only did he fail to lead the Ministry of Health to overcome the pandemic, he was also criticized for underestimating Covid, spreading hoaxes and even against science.
The Minister of Health rarely responds to these accusations. Terawan rarely appears in public, even in pandemic situations.
Effort CNNIndonesia.com Asking about his whereabouts was not answered by the Ministry’s Directorate of Public Communication. The head of the Ministry’s Communications Office responded to a request for information on its activities with a short reply “We are TL”, also known as a follow-up promise. Questions sent to his assistants went unanswered, including those sent to the Minister’s personal number.
Ainun Najib, founder of KawalCovid19 and one of the proponents of Terawan’s firing, questioned how to expect leadership in the presence of such an unusual Minister of Health. Najib was also diligent in criticizing President Jokowi’s pandemic policies and constantly urged the replacement of Terawan.
“Wujuduhu ka adamihi, that is, the presence of Terawan as it does not exist. Or actually (there) but worse than nothing, ”Najib said through an app to exchange messages from his place of residence in Singapore.
“If it is not replaced, the Ministry of Health will always be weak in the face of this outbreak because the leader does not take the treatment seriously.”
As of the weekend of September 13, 2020, 115 doctors and nearly 80 more medical workers had died. Not including the thousands who are currently being treated and isolated due to the Covid hiring.
At the end of August, on the agenda for a hearing with DPR, Terawan was quoted as saying that health workers hired Covid “… definitely because they weren’t disciplined.”
“The worst thing is that when doctors across Indonesia drop, one of the main factors is the limitations of personal protective equipment, including those that do not specifically handle Covid (which are then infected with OTG patients or patients who do not know or they don’t want to admit it.) At the same time, the Ministry of Health budget is minimally absorbed and the production of PPE accumulates and is not bought or distributed, “Najib said irritably.
To change or not a ministerial position is a privilege of the president. In the case of Terawan, there was no sign.
During the first and second weeks of September, the president had invited the editor-in-chief of the media to the palace at least twice. On these two occasions, questions arose remodeling cabinet. Not to mention being asked if Terawan would be removed from office, it was replied that there were no plans to change ministers.
Even if the president wants to replace Terawan, his election will not be easy.
Eliminating his own choice seemed to confirm the content of warnings and criticisms from many parties in the past against Terawan. But leaving ministers who are there but feel missing, even though the president urgently needs help in the midst of a pandemic, is of course also problematic.
In appointing Terawan, the president said that a minister must have managerial skills, both in budget, personnel and budget distribution.
“Recorded audio he has no doubt. Dr. Terawan also has field experience in managing disasters and various endemic disease threats, “the president told reporters a day after inaugurating his cabinet as minister on October 24, 2019.
Less than five months later, when the pandemic actually occurred, the president even appointed the president of the BNPB as head of the Covid-19 Management Acceleration Task Force.
Terawan’s role as the highest official in the Ministry of Health is weakening until it becomes almost minimalist. It is not on the agenda for press conferences, it is inexpensive to speak to the media, and answering questions sometimes leads to controversy. For example, when it was said that the PSBB was unnecessary “because it could cause a recession.”
This type of shock according to the expert is useless.
“It is not about being replaced or not. Whoever the minister is, the health system must be used to respond to a pandemic. In each country, the health ministry has the resources, the competence, the experience, the expertise, in relationship with the control of the pandemic at the national level. The Ministry of Health has been proven to have successfully overcome SARS and Avian Flu. They are capable, “said Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist who had worked for a long time in the Ministry of Health before of choosing to retire early.
Dicky, who is currently conducting a doctoral study in Australia, assesses that the public did not realize that at the time the Ministry of Health had a brilliant record in protecting Indonesia from outbreaks.
“We have managed to prevent Ebola from entering Indonesia, for example. Does he think that from Africa we cannot go to Indonesia? No, it is because the system is monitored. Surveillance is enforced. How can we?” He added excitedly.
Handing over control of the management of the pandemic to an ad-hoc group like the Task Force, according to Dicky, is far more concerning than the question of removing or retaining ministerial officials.
“The main role is the system in the ministry. There are Echelon-I who are the leaders of their organizational movements in each of the main units. Now they are the main engine. Whether the minister is replaced or not is the prerogative of the president. But the assignment of responsibility in the fight against this pandemic must remain in the health sector. There must be no judgment, because seeing an individual continues to ignore a very strong system “, said Dicky without specifying who he was referring to.
Handing over control to third parties outside the Ministry of Health, according to Dicky, is very detrimental to the management of a pandemic because it is left in the hands of people who do not deal with the issue of an outbreak, pandemic or epidemic on a daily basis.
“The pattern is finished learning by doing, this is dangerous for a strategy against a very serious pandemic. And this is what happened these six months. “
In the outbreak control experience in the previous administration, according to Dicky, the Ministry of Health was always the determining team. According to him, the commotion surrounding the PSBB that is currently taking place will not occur if the Ministry of Health, which leads the team and other ministries, follows.
The Task Force leadership appears to be choosing to be wary of the authority on this sensitive issue of pandemic control. In addition, the sources said that the relationship between the Working Group and the Ministry of Health was not fluid.
When asked by BNPB’s Director of Disaster Management Strategy Development and one of the Task Force leaders, Agus Wibowo, he answered simply.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know the performance of the Minister of Health.”
(vws)
[Gambas:Video CNN]
[ad_2]
