BPOM needs around 4,000 additional staff to support national priority programmes

The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has said it needs around 4,000 additional staff to support priority programmes such as the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) scheme, the Red and White Village Cooperatives (KDMP), and assistance for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

“BPOM, with the limitations we have, has 6,431 staff. In principle, based on need, we actually require 10,710 people. So we are only at about 60 per cent sufficiency,” said BPOM Head Taruna Ikrar in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He said BPOM’s responsibilities cover 32,000 Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) and 83,000 KDMP that need support. The agency has also been tasked with assisting 4.3 million MSMEs.

Taruna also highlighted the challenges of drug and food supervision. National borders now seem to have disappeared, he said, so events in one country have an impact on other and neighbouring countries.

Moreover, BPOM is one of the WHO-Listed Authorities. It is now tasked with ensuring that spices sent to the United States are certified by BPOM.

To face all of this, Taruna said, competent human resources are needed as well as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for prevention and enforcement.

“If based on an objective assessment system, then as humans, as leaders, there are certainly subjective aspects of interest that will involve us as decision makers. Therefore, by utilising BPOM’s meritocracy system based on human resources and the use of AI, objectivity is increasingly enhanced,” he said.

According to him, AI is only a tool, but the most important thing is the wisdom of the people involved, namely the leaders. “Digital transformation in human resource management will never succeed if it only focuses on technology,” he said.