Measles outbreak looms in Banten as Health Office urged to guarantee drug and vaccine supplies

Rifky Hermiansyah, Secretary of Commission V of the Banten Provincial Legislature, has responded to the measles situation in Banten Province, which appears to be developing into an extraordinary incident (KLB). The Health Office (Dinkes) has been asked to guarantee the availability of medicines and vaccines.

Rifky stated that Commission V of the legislature will summon the Health Office (Dinkes) to hold a public hearing (RDP). The legislature will assess the Health Office’s preparedness.

“We in the legislature are deeply concerned about the surge in suspected cases that has reached 2,000 cases in the first three months of 2026. We will soon summon Banten’s Health Office to explain how prepared they are in the field,” Rifky told reporters on Monday (16 March 2026).

According to this Gerindra politician, stocks of medicines or vaccines must not run out at health centres or health posts. The availability of medicines is essential to ensure prompt treatment can be provided to affected residents.

“We want to ensure that supplies of measles medicines and MR vaccines are sufficient throughout Banten, particularly in red-zone areas such as Pandeglang and Tangerang. We cannot afford to have stock shortages amid this threat of an extraordinary incident,” he said.

“We do not want Banten to be caught off guard simply because of obstructed medicine distribution problems or weak coordination,” said Rifky.

Previously, the Banten Provincial Government conducted surveillance or monitoring of measles cases in its territory that suggested an extraordinary incident (KLB) was developing. To date, more than 2,000 suspected measles cases have been identified.

Ati Pramudji Astuti, Head of the Health Office (Kadinkes) of Banten Province, said that in 2025, there were approximately 6,000 suspected measles cases. Of that number, around 510 cases were confirmed as measles.

“Building on that, we naturally consider this to be heading towards an extraordinary incident (KLB). Therefore, we must anticipate this in 2026. Since January, we have already been preparing, and from data received through March, with active surveillance that we continue to conduct at the health centre level, it is estimated that there are already over 2,000 suspected cases,” said Ati in Cilegon City on Friday (13 March).

Ati noted that the 2,000 cases were spread across all districts and cities in Banten. However, from that figure, one person has been confirmed positive based on testing conducted in Tangerang City.

“Why we stepped up surveillance, and March shows 2,000 cases, we cannot be complacent. Although measles without complications has a high recovery potential, even at the onset of symptoms, we direct cases towards a measles diagnosis,” she said.