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Dok/ Kementerian Kesehatan
The Health Ministry Has Launched A Public Health Laboratory For Disease Prevention Interventions
Thursday, 29 Aug 2024
The Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) teamed up with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture to launch a Public Health Laboratory (Labkesmas) in Jakarta on Monday (August 26). In line with the transformation of primary health services, Kemenkes is dedicated to revamping Labkesmas into a comprehensive laboratory-based public health initiative. This revamp includes early detection, disease surveillance, and responses to extraordinary events or outbreaks. "We need to build health facilities that can carry out early detection, both for infectious disease surveillance and screening for non-communicable diseases," said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin during his speech. He emphasized the need for capable health facilities to identify potential diseases and various risk factors, including environmental issues, food safety, and disease-carrying vectors. The restructuring of Labkesmas also aims to support the transformation of the national health resilience system, enhancing preparedness for health emergencies. With 81 testing parameters, Labkesmas covers six main groups addressing various health aspects, such as the most prevalent diseases and screening for 14 diseases, infectious diseases/outbreak potential, environmental health risk factors, vector and animal disease carriers, substance abuse/biomonitoring/toxicology, and drug resistance monitoring. Labkesmas is organized into a 5-tier network, starting from community health posts and primary health centers at the first level up to the national level at the fifth. This system allows for more effective early detection, utilizing point-of-care testing (POCT) or rapid tests at community health posts and advanced technologies like genome sequencing capacity at the provincial level.
Menkes Budi pointed out that digitizing data is a key factor in the success of Labkesmas. All data will be integrated into the SATUSEHAT platform, making it accessible to everyone. "With certain authorities, researchers from universities across Indonesia can access it. This could become one of the largest databases for both infectious and non-communicable diseases," said Menkes Budi. Nunung Nuryartono, the Acting Deputy for Health Quality Improvement and Population Development Coordination, also emphasized the importance of providing adequate and easily accessible health facilities for everyone, especially for prevention efforts, lab-based surveillance, and early detection. "A strong laboratory system not only enhances healthcare services at the national level but also significantly impacts the overall quality of life and well-being of the community," Nunung stated. By strengthening Labkesmas, Indonesia is getting closer to its vision of becoming a healthy, productive, and competitive nation, aiming for a Golden Indonesia by 2045.
