University of Indonesia (UI) social observer Rissalwan Habdy Lubis highlighted the need for integrated health posts (posyandus) to offer counseling .
[Photo Courtesy of the Indonesia Cabinet Secretary’s Office]
Indonesia’s president replaced six ministers in a cabinet shakeup on Tuesday, including the health minister who was heavily criticized for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which dragged Southeast Asia’s biggest economy into its worst recession in 22 years.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo sacked Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto and replaced him with Budi Gunadi Sadikin, a banker and the deputy minister of state enterprises, to help deal with the pandemic.
With nearly 700,000 coronavirus cases and more than 20,000 COVID-19-related deaths, Indonesia is the country in East Asia that is hardest hit by the pandemic.