The Faculty of Medicine of Diponegoro University (Undip) had successfully held an annual international conference in the fields of medicine, nursing, nutrition, medicine, and health sciences. This international conference lasts for two days, on Friday and Saturday (November 5th-6th 2021) and is held virtually/online via the Zoom meeting platform.
The international conference which brought together scholars from across countries, namely the Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States of America, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, was entitled “The 5th International Conference on Translational Medicine and Health Sciences (5th ICTMHS) 2021” with the theme “Two Years into Pandemic: Covid-19 Recent Updates, Health Consequences, and Future Directions”.
This academic forum held by the Faculty of Medicine Undip also invited the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, CHFC., CLU., and Central Java Governor, Ganjar Pranowo, represented by the Head of the Central Java Provincial Health Office, dr. Yulianto Prabowo, M.Kes. The Undip Rector, Prof. Dr. Yos Johan Utama, S.H, M. Hum., and the Dean of Faculty of Medicine Undip, Prof. Dr. dr. Dwi Pudjonarko, M.Kes., Sp.S(K) also present at this event.
In his remarks, the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, CHFC., CLU., said that since the first two cases of Covid-19 were announced on March 2nd 2020, the government had made preventive and curative efforts in handling Covid-19 patients. In addition, the Government established synergies with all elements of society to handle the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have implemented four integrated strategies to maximize output and outcomes towards post-pandemic recovery, namely: detection, therapy, vaccination, and behavior change intervention,” said the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia.
According to Ir. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, CHFC., CLU., the Covid-19 vaccination policy taken by the government of Indonesia is very effective in handling the pandemic because it has been proven to be able to reduce morbidity and mortality during the pandemic. “We are also monitoring the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine against the new variant of Covid-19,” he explained.
The government also prepared referral health facilities for handling patients with Covid-19 cases. “We are preparing referral health facilities for handling Covid-19 cases, along with an effective and efficient financing scheme. Through the Minister’s decision on technical instructions for reimbursement of claims or service fees for Covid-19 patients and the implementation of the Covid-19 INA-CBGs tariff policy, the process of financing and health administration will be more transparent,” said Budi Sadikin.
Thus, it is hoped that referral hospitals can focus on improving service quality and better prepare future financing schemes if Covid-19 cases rise again.
Head of Central Java Provincial Health Office, dr. Yulianto Prabowo, M.Kes., who represented the Governor of Central Java, welcomed the holding of the international conference. “I welcome and appreciate the organization of this conference. Besides being a forum for meeting experts in the health sector, this forum is also a means of knowledge and collaboration of health professionals in the fields of education, research, and health services,” explained dr. Yulianto.
dr. Yulianto added that the Covid-19 pandemic, which is still happening in Indonesia, shows that research in the health sector is very important and strategic. “When this new virus first appeared, we were all made to stutter. How to handle it, what medicine, and how to stop its spread. We are grateful that researchers and experts in the health sector can quickly make various discoveries and instructions on how to handle the Covid-19 pandemic, starting from health protocols and vaccinations,” he said.
In addition, dr. Yulianto hopes that this international conference will be able to connect academics and practitioners from various parts of the world to collaborate in research or other scientific activities, so that they can find solutions for various problems and challenges in the health sector.
“I am glad that there will be presentations of research results and scientific works on health that will be published. I hope that this research and scientific work will be able to contribute ideas and create innovative breakthroughs for the advancement of the public health sector, especially in Central Java and in Indonesia,” explained the Head of Central Java Provincial Health Office.
Undip Rector, Prof. Dr. Yos Johan Utama, S.H, M.Hum., in his speech explained that this international conference was still part of a series of events for the 60th Anniversary of Faculty of Medicine Undip. “This 5th ICTMHS 2021 is still one of the series of 60th Anniversary of Faculty of Medicine Undip events,” explained Prof Yos. The Undip Rector hoped that with this conference there will be an exchange of knowledge and information regarding the current pandemic conditions.
Previously, the international conference was opened by the Dean of Faculty of Medicine Undip, Prof. Dr. dr. Dwi Pudjonarko, M.Kes., Sp.S(K). Prof. Onang, the nickname of the Dean of Faculty of Medicine Undip, explained that this forum aims to convey the latest knowledge about implementation, guidelines, and clinical practice about the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to increase public knowledge about health programs during the Covid-19 pandemic, including the Covid-19 vaccination. “This international conference is a forum for the dissemination of ideas or research through scientific e-posters and oral presentations,” explained Prof. Onang.
Prof. Onang added that this international conference was carried out to provide scientific updates to face the future, especially in the health sector during and after the Covid-19 pandemic has passed. This scientific update covered broad disciplines with the latest topics such as global vaccinations, emergencies related to the pandemic era, medicines, and community services in various fields during the pandemic era for almost 2 years.
“We hope this two-day conference can help the public to increase their knowledge about health during this pandemic. By exchanging knowledge, the new insight about perspectives and management in the health sector during the Covid-19 pandemic can be found,” explained the Dean of Faculty of Medicine Undip.
The event continued with the presentation of materials by world researchers, namely Prof. Dr. David M Bishai (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health – USA); Dr. Laurence Baldwin (Coventry University – UK); Prof. Dr. Jan L Nouwen (Erasmus MC, UMC Rotterdam – Netherlands); Assist. Prof. Li-Yin (Jessica) Lin, RD., PhD (Taiwan); and Assoc. Prof. Josephine Lorica, RN., DPA., (Philippines). A researcher from the Eijkman Institute, Indonesia, Prof. dr. Amin Soebandrio, PhD., Sp. MK., also participated as speakers in presenting the material concerning the health field.