This means that disinfectants are important to anticipate the virus spread
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government approved the procurement of 29 million doses of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccine for livestock this year by utilizing funds from the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (KPC-PEN).

"The decision to use the KPC-PEN budget for funding FMD vaccine has been approved. Some 29 million doses of the vaccine are financed from KPC-PEN," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, stated after attending an internal meeting with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) related to the handling of FMD in livestock at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Thursday.

Hartarto remarked that the president had also directed related ministries and institutions to prepare medicines and vaccinators as well as maintain a monitoring mechanism for the movement of livestock from one farm to another.

"This means that disinfectants are important to anticipate the virus spread," Hartarto added.


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The president also approved the structure of the FMD handling task force that would be led by the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the minister remarked.

Head of BNPB Suharyanto, who is concurrently leading the FMD Handling Task Force, said that his side will work along with the elements of the task force from the Coordinating Ministry for the Economic Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Home Affairs, National Police (Polri), and the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI).

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"We will work as quickly as possible because we already have a similar model while handling the COVID-19 pandemic. We will apply it to handle FMD," Suharyanto remarked.

His side will also conduct coordination meetings in the regions, especially in areas that are included in the FMD red zone.

"We urge the local government officials, governors, district heads, and mayors to prepare for handling FMD. We will work together to deal with this disease in Indonesian livestock as quickly as possible," he emphasized.

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Translator: Rangga Pandu A J, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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