Deputy Health Minister Gives Three Messages to Media to Boost Immunisation Coverage

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono delivered three messages to the media to contribute to increasing immunisation coverage in Indonesia, noting that immunisation is a highly effective health investment for preventing severity and death. “We see that stories about smallpox, polio, and other diseases resulted in very high mortality rates. And once they can be eradicated, they disappear from the face of the earth,” said Dante in Jakarta on Thursday during World Immunisation Week 2026. Therefore, Dante stated, the media plays an important role in enhancing complete vaccination coverage, drawing from the COVID-19 experience where more unvaccinated people died from the virus. “First, be a good educator. Amid the rampant massive infodemic information, one quality journalistic message will straighten out all those misleading news,” said Dante. Secondly, he said, the media needs to be a refresher amid the murkiness of information. According to him, the public will come voluntarily for vaccination if they read positive writings from the media. Thirdly, he said, the media must always provide current information. Experts, such as from the Indonesian Paediatric Society (IDAI) and educational institutions, always provide the latest messages to the public. The media, he said, needs to continuously seek out such information and disseminate it so that the public receives reliable up-to-date information. On the same occasion, Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Indonesia Sujala Pant stated that immunisation is the most effective and efficient health intervention, proven worldwide. “For every dollar we invest in immunisation, there is a return of $52 in low- and middle-income countries,” said Sujala. He added that child vaccinations are estimated to prevent around 4 million deaths each year. According to him, World Immunisation Week 2026 is a time to strengthen commitment in building a health system to achieve Golden Indonesia 2045.