"It is our joint task together with the BPOM to improve the system. Hopefully, no more Indonesian children will die because of problems like that," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture here on Wednesday.
He made the statement after handing over aid for those who died or were hospitalized due to acute kidney injury. Assistance and compensation were provided to 218 families of patients who died and 94 patients who recovered or were hospitalized.
Sadikin said that the government has ensured that the cost of treatment for children with acute kidney injury is fully borne by it through the National Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan).
The government is also covering the cost of transportation to the hospital for children who need further treatment, he added.
"Perhaps more than 2 thousand hospitals are already collaborating with the BPJS," the minister said.
Related news: Ministry intensifies cooperation with BPOM to improve drug control
Acting head of the BPOM, Lucia Rizka Andalusia, said that improvements have been made to regulations to prevent the occurrence of acute kidney injury cases.
She informed that her agency has continued to appeal to the pharmaceutical industry to comply with the applicable regulations. According to her, based on supervision, cases of non-compliance by the pharmaceutical industry in meeting the required standards have been detected.
Indonesia earlier recorded cases of acute kidney injury caused by poisoning from the chemical compounds ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), which are usually used as solvents in syrups.
Acute kidney injury sufferers were spread across 27 provinces, with Jakarta recording the highest number of cases.
Related news: BPOM takes down 6,001 online links selling unsafe syrup drugs
Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Raka Adji
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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