We care, we fought and we were heard.
On May 15, 2020, Yayasan Peduli Hati Bangsa held a meeting with the Ministry of Health for the Hepatitis Sub-directorate and Digestive Tract Infections and the HIV and PIMS Subdit to discuss coordination between Sub-directorates and Civil Society Organizations and the availability of Direct Acting Antiviral (DAA) drugs (specifically Daclatasvir).
At present the Ministry of Health has submitted a proposal for the need for DAA drugs at the Republic of Indonesia Government Goods / Services Procurement Policy Agency long before the drug has been out of stock. However, procurement was hampered by reason of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In our records, both drugs and test kits were often not available long before the Covid-19 pandemic existed. Here are a few examples:
- January 2018: cartridge for PCR test runs out (available 2-3 months afterward)
- December 2018: cartridge for PCR test runs out (available 2-3 months afterward)
- April 2019: Sofosbuvir runs out (available again on November 2019)
- February 2020: Daclatasvir stock out (not yet available)
In June 2020, Yayasan Peduli Hati Bangsa made a petition for the availability of DAA drugs in Indonesia through change.org. Our petition received tremendous support from the public which finally paid off.
On July 2, 2020, the Expert Staff of the Presidential Staff Office, Aditya Syarief , provided information that Yayasan Peduli Hati Bangsa will have an online meeting together on July 9, 2020.
In a Zoom meeting with the Presidential Staff Office attended by Key Experts and Experts in the Field of Human Development,, Yayasan Peduli Hati Bangsa, explained the need for DAA drugs (especially Hepatitis) in Indonesia and their impact on the nation’s socioeconomics, long-term planning for administering DAA drugs, as well as barriers experienced so far.
The first meeting with the Presidential Staff Office is going well and will continue to be sustainable with short and long term plans which include:
- Encouraging with the acceleration of availability of Daclatasvir
- Prioritizing the Hepatitis issue in the Indonesian Government’s long-term plan.
