Indonesia has joined the ranks of countries with high human development in the fields of health, access to education and a decent standard of living.
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EDITOR
·3 minutes read
Indonesia has joined the ranks of countries with high human development in the fields of health, access to education and a decent standard of living.
In the 2019 United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report, Indonesia ranked 111th out of 189 countries with a Human Development Index (IPM) value of 0.707. However, until now the problem of pneumonia in children has not been resolved. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that in 2018 there were 19,000 children under 5 years of age (toddlers) who died from acute pneumonia in Indonesia. Meanwhile, pneumonia has killed more than 800,000 children under 5 every year around the world.
According to 2019 Health Ministry data, there were 153,987 cases of pneumonia in infants (under one year of age) and 314,455 cases in children aged one to five years. The number of child deaths due to this disease has reached 550 cases. This year, it was recorded that 443 children died from pneumonia. The number of deaths could be higher considering that some of the deaths could be unrecorded.
During the pandemic period, pneumonia as a comorbid disease can increase the number of children who contract and die from Covid-19 in Indonesia.
Risk factors for pneumonia include poor nutrition, low exclusive breast-feeding, incomplete immunization, vitamin A deficiency, low birth weight babies, and environmental factors such as air pollution. During the pandemic period, pneumonia as a comorbid disease can increase the number of children who contract and die from Covid-19 in Indonesia. This is of concern because pneumonia can be prevented by immunization and other cost-effective measures that can be treated with low-cost antibiotics.
At the Global Forum on Childhood Pneumonia on 29-31 Jan. 2020, the Indonesian government reiterated its commitment regarding national efforts for pneumonia prevention and control programs. Several types of vaccines that can prevent pneumonia have been added to the routine national immunization program in stages, namely the Measles vaccine (1982), the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine (2013) and the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV), which is carried in stages. The PCV vaccination began in Lombok in 2017 and will cover all of Indonesia in 2024.
This can be seen from the low coverage of basic immunization in Indonesia, including measles, which is only 57.9 percent nationally.
The challenge for Indonesia is the decline in immunization coverage, not only due to the problems related to facilities and infrastructure but also due to opposition from anti-vaccine community groups. This can be seen from the low coverage of basic immunization in Indonesia, including measles, which is only 57.9 percent nationally.
In addition, the prevalence of stunting in Indonesian children is still 27.67 percent, malnutrition at 16.29 percent (2019 Indonesian Toddler Nutrition Status Survey), exclusive breastfeeding at 54 percent, babies with low birth weight still 10.2 percent, and high air pollution in confined spaces, mainly due to cigarette smoke.
Therefore, the existing policies should be followed with serious monitoring and evaluation on the implementation in the field to ensure that the program runs well and the risk factors for pneumonia can be overcome.