Dilemma of Prioritising Health and the Economy During COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia
Keywords:
COVID-19, Indonesia, Economy, Health, DilemmaAbstract
Since the detection of the first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in early March 2020, 248,852 cases have been detected in Indonesia by 21 September 2020. At least 100 doctors have died from COVID-19 nationwide. Full large-scale social restriction was a temporary measure, followed by an early transition to the new normal era during the never-ending first wave in the country. Workers in industrial, retail, transport, and tourism fields suffered a significant decrease in work. Many countries are, however, in dilemma of protecting the health of the citizens and prioritising economy. Health should be prioritised because it is an important aspect of our lives for our economy. Poor health is estimated to reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by 15% annually through premature deaths and potential loss of productivity of the working-age citizens. Pandemics also depress economy through decrease in both supply and demand. Data from flu pandemic a century ago suggested the importance of aggressiveness and speed of intervention. Taiwan’s early action led to beneficial effects on SARS-CoV-2 infection rate and economy recovery. The target of enhancement of containment measures, provision of personal protective equipments, and testing and isolation facilities should be achieved earlier and be more than the projected demand.References
Satuan Tugas Penanganan COVID-19. Peta sebaran Gugus Tugas Percepatan Penanganan COVID-19 [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020 Sep 21]. p. 1. Available from: https://covid19.go.id/peta-sebaran.
Setiati S, Azwar MK. COVID-19 and Indonesia. Acta Med Indones. 2020;52(1):84–9. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32291377.
Souisa H, Wibawa T. Indonesia struggles with rising coronavirus infections as tests become commercialised. ABC News. 2020 Jul 17; Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-18/indonesia-covid-19-new-normal-commercialisation-test/12459496.
Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. Total COVID-19 tests per 1,000 people [Internet]. Our World in Data. 2020 [cited 2020 Sep 13]. Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/full-list-cumulative-total-tests-per-thousand?tab=table&time=2020-02-20.latest.
Pak A, Adegboye OA, Adekunle AI, Rahman KM, McBryde ES, Eisen DP. Economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak: the need for epidemic preparedness. Front Public Heal. 2020 May 29;8. Available from: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00241/full.
Moti UG, Goon D Ter. Novel Coronavirus Disease: A delicate balancing act between health and the economy. Pakistan J Med Sci. 2020 May;36(COVID19-S4):S134–7. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32582333.
Soedarsono S. A Family cluster of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) infection with different clinical manifestations. Acta Med Indones. 2020;52(2):155–62. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32778630.
The Jakarta Post. COVID-19: Ombudsman slams govt for “focusing too much on economic recovery”. The Jakarta Post. 2020 Aug 31; Available from: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/08/31/covid-19-ombudsman-slams-govt-for-focusing-too-much-on-economic-recovery.html.
Akhlas A. Millions to lose jobs, fall into poverty as Indonesia braces for recession. The Jakarta Post [Internet]. 2020 Apr 15; Available from: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/14/millions-to-lose-jobs-fall-into-poverty-as-indonesia-braces-for-recession.html.
Aldin I. 50% ICU RS Pemerintah tanpa ventilator, Erick akan cari ke ujung dunia. Katadata [Internet]. 2020 Jul; Available from: https://katadata.co.id/happyfajrian/berita/5e9a41f6105bd/50-icu-rs-pemerintah-tanpa-ventilator-erick-akan-cari-ke-ujung-dunia.
Tim Detikcom. Grafik mengkhawatirkan ini yang bikin PSBB ketat DKI diberlakukan lagi. detikNews [Internet]. 2020 Sep 10; Available from: https://news.detik.com/berita/d-5166864/grafik-mengkhawatirkan-ini-yang-bikin-psbb-ketat-dki-diberlakukan-lagi.
WHO Europe. Strengthening and adjusting public health measures throughout the COVID-19 transition phases: Policy considerations for the WHO European Region [Internet]. Available from: https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/technical-guidance/2020/strengthening-and-adjusting-public-health-measures-throughout-the-covid-19-transition-phases.-policy-considerations-for-the-who-european-region,-24-a.
Remes J, Dewhurst M, Woetzel J. Research: poor health reduces global GDP by 15% each year. Harvard Business Rev. 2020 Jul 8; Available from: https://hbr.org/2020/07/research-poor-health-reduces-global-gdp-by-15-each-year.
Eichenbaum M, Rebelo S, Trabandt M. The Macroeconomics of Epidemics. Cambridge, MA; 2020 Mar. Available from: http://www.nber.org/papers/w26882.pdf.
Correia S, Luck S, Verner E. Fight the pandemic, save the economy: Lessons from the 1918 flu. Lib Str Econ. Available from: https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2020/03/fight-the-pandemic-save-the-economy-lessons-from-the-1918-flu.html.
Focus Economics. Taiwan economic outlook [Internet]. [cited 2020 Sep 21]. Available from: https://www.focus-economics.com/countries/taiwan.
Chu DK, Akl EA, Duda S, et al. Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2020;395(10242):1973–87. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673620311429.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright
The authors who publish in this journal agree to the following requirements:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. (See The Effect of Open Access)
Privacy Statement
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.
