People must be willing to come to health facilities and access immunization for their children. Do not miss the period
Jakarta (ANTARA) - An official from the Health Ministry has advised parents to complete children's immunization in order to increase their immunity and protect them from disease.



"Many children did not complete their immunization during the pandemic since they could not leave their homes. Right now, we are pursuing children’s immunization," the ministry's acting director for immunization management, Dr. Prima Yosephine, said here on Wednesday.



In 2019, the national coverage of basic immunization among infants was more than 93 percent, she noted.



The coverage fell to 84.2 percent in 2020, that is after the pandemic struck. After services were reopened and health protocols were implemented, the basic immunization coverage grew slightly to 84.5 percent.



According to Yosephine, an outbreak or extraordinary event (KLB) could potentially occur because around 1.7 million Indonesian children have not completed immunization.


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"Outbreaks are identical to pandemics, but on a small scale, because they only occur on a small scale," she said.



All related parties must pay attention to the outbreak issue since it is related to the well-being of the future generation. For example, measles outbreaks this year increased 38-fold compared to last year.



"We must do something to overcome this phenomenon," she emphasized.



Therefore, the government has continued to encourage the community, especially the elderly, to take advantage of the government's immunization program. The increasing number of cases during outbreaks can be suppressed by building children's immunity through immunization.


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Yosephine said that immunization is important to prevent illnesses such as diarrhea and hepatitis.



"People must be willing to come to health facilities and access immunization for their children. Do not miss the period," she appealed.



Through immunization, the government is trying to keep people from contracting diseases that can have a significant impact, Yosephine said.



“So, if we contract a disease (following immunization), the symptoms will be mild," she explained.


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Translator: Nanien Yuniar, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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