“Immunization protects children so that when they grow up they will be healthier and smarter,” said the Minister of Health during the launch of the National Child Immunization Month (BIAN) in Tanjungpinang.

Riau Islands Province, which is the Assisted Area of the Directorate General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, was honored as the location for the launch of the National Child Immunization Month (BIAN) Program in 2022 which was opened directly by the Indonesian Minister of Health (Menkes), Budi Gunadi Sadikin. Thousands of children in Tanjungpinang City, Riau Islands Province enthusiastically participated in this BIAN program, on Wednesday (18/5/2022) at the Tanjungpinang Regional Building.

In his remarks, the Minister of Health said that immunization injections for children are very important. This, he said, is so that children's health can be maintained until they become adults later. “In addition to being healthy, this immunization is also for our children to be smart as adults. This immunization can be fairly cheap, compared to getting diseases as an adult,” said the Minister of Health.

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that during the BIAN declaration, parents are expected to immediately bring their children to the nearest health care facility or immunization service post to get routine immunization.

Immunization is proven to protect children from dangerous diseases, making them healthier and more productive. Not only that, the benefits of immunization are also far greater than the impact in the future. “This is relatively cheap compared to them getting dangerous diseases as adults. Because if they get sick, the cost can reach millions, if they enter the ICU it can reach tens of millions. So it is much cheaper if we vaccinate or immunize,” said the Minister of Health.

Based on data from the Ministry of Health, 1.7 million Indonesian children have not received complete basic immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most are in West Java, followed by Aceh, North Sumatra, Riau, West Sumatra and DKI Jakarta. For this reason, routine immunization for children is very important. 

The Ministry of Health has developed 3 strategies to promote routine immunization in children to provide protection from immunization-preventable diseases (PD3I). First, 3 types of routine immunization in children were added from 11 vaccines to 14 vaccines. The added vaccines are Rotavirus vaccine for anti-diarrhea and PCV vaccine for anti-pneumonia targeted for children, as well as HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer given to mothers. “For fathers and mothers, please help so that this triple immunization runs, so as to reduce maternal and child mortality,” hoped the Minister of Health.

Second, the digitization of immunization data. The Ministry of Health has prepared a digital immunization recording application, namely the Healthy IndonesiaKu Application (ASIK). No more manual recording in books, all child immunization data will be directly entered in ASIK which is integrated with PeduliLindungi. “We will provide this application to all Puskesmas and Health Offices, so that the data is also available at the Health Office,” he added.

Third, learning from the COVID-19 vaccination system, later child immunization will be carried out through invitations in the application. So that local governments and health workers already know which children have not been vaccinated. “The existence of this modern technology will make it easier for us to expand vaccination coverage,” he said. “With these three initiatives, hopefully our goal remains to improve the welfare of our community. The role of mothers is very important to make this immunization a success,” the Minister continued.

According to him, the role of the Regional Government, Forkopimda and the community is also important in the success of the national child immunization program. “Immunization is a very important program. So the role of the local government and the community is also needed,” said Minister Budi.

Governor Ansar welcomed the appointment of Riau Islands as the location of the first phase of BIAN launching. His party is ready to succeed the implementation of BIAN in the region in order to maintain community immunity and prevent outbreaks of diseases that can be prevented by immunization. “With the establishment of Riau Islands, of course this triggers the enthusiasm of all of us to continue working hard, because immunizing children means we are talking about the color and future of this nation. If health is good, our human resources are successful and good,” he said.

The governor added that the implementation of BIAN today was carried out simultaneously in 7 regencies/cities in Riau Islands. The number of targets in all districts / cities immunized today is around 24,461 targets. “Hopefully what we carry out today, we will receive the results in the future,” he concluded.

For information, the declaration of the National Child Immunization Month (BIAN) is an effort by the Ministry of Health to close the health immunity gap in the community as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BIAN was implemented for one month, in stages across all Indonesian provinces. The first phase will begin in May 2022 in all provinces on the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua. The second phase will be implemented starting August 2022 in all provinces in Java and Bali. The implementation of the National Child Immunization Month includes Measles Rubella supplementary immunization activities and catch-up immunization (OPV, IPV and DPT-HB-Hib) well and can achieve the expected targets.

With the implementation of BIAN activities, it is hoped that community immunity will be formed, so that in the end it can achieve Measles-Rubella elimination, maintain Polio-Free Indonesia status, maintain tetanus elimination in pregnant women and newborns, and control diphtheria and pertussis diseases.

The BIAN launching activity was attended by the Governor of Riau Islands and his staff, the Mayor of Tanjungpinang and his staff, representatives of WHO and UNICEF, and from the Ministry of Health was also attended by the Director General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, and the Secretary General of Pharmaceuticals Dita Novianti S.A. In addition to the BIAN launching, the Minister of Health and his entourage also visited Posyandu Bunga Mawar Kampung Bulang, Tanjungpinang Polytechnic, KKP Class II Tanjungpinang, and Raja Ahmad Tabib Hospital.