Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has requested the assistance of the Japanese government to improve the competency of operators in taking care of vaccine refrigerators in Indonesia.

Japan could help Indonesia further by conducting a regular session on how to maintain cold chain operation’s quality, Minister Sadikin said here on Sunday after receiving vaccine refrigerators donated by the Japanese Government.

“It will be very helpful,” he remarked.

The capability of operators in Indonesia in managing vaccine cold chain supply is still very low, he noted.

During his visit to a number of regions to review the operation of vaccine storage equipment, he found out that two out of the four available refrigerators did not work.

“Our capability in maintaining machine quality and operation is still low. I feel sad if I have a large refrigerator for cold chain box but it does not work,” he said.

Refrigerators generally last for three to four years. Hence, an adequate budget is necessary to ensure that that the machine is well-maintained for long periods of time.

Sadikin noted that Japanese people is very diligent when it comes to treating and maintaining the goods that they own.

“I was once at a work unit when I was in Japan,” he remarked, recalling his experience working as an Information Technology Staff at IBM Asia Pacific, Tokyo, Japan, from 1988 to 1994.

The minister also lauded the Japanese government’s donation of some seven million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to help Indonesia accelerate the COVID-19 Vaccination Program .

“I see that this is how the international community cooperate. The pandemic is a problem which is too big to resolve on our own. Cooperation is necessary,” he said.

Source: Antara News