MPR Deputy Chair urges prioritisation of complete basic immunisation for children

Efforts to improve child healthcare services must be a serious concern for all parties to protect the nation’s future generations from the threat of infectious diseases such as measles. Jakarta (ANTARA) - MPR RI Deputy Chair Lestari Moerdijat has urged the government to make the fulfilment of complete basic immunisation for children a priority and to maintain consistency in this regard. According to her, stakeholders must seriously address this issue to prevent an explosion of infectious disease cases like measles that endanger public health. “Efforts to improve child healthcare services must be a serious concern for all parties to protect the nation’s future generations from the threat of infectious diseases such as measles,” said Lestari in Jakarta on Friday. She explained that based on data from the Ministry of Health, up to the eighth week of 2026, measles cases show worrying figures. There were 10,453 suspected measles cases, with 8,372 of them confirmed as measles cases, and six people reported dead. In addition, 45 Extraordinary Events (KLB) of measles are spread across 29 districts and cities in 11 provinces. These areas include North Sumatra, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Banten, West Java, Central Java, DI Yogyakarta, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, and Central Sulawesi. She also highlighted the government’s ongoing mass immunisation programme in 102 districts and cities. According to her, this effort needs full support from the community to succeed in curbing the surge in cases. She also acknowledged that there are still several obstacles in the implementation of complete immunisation. Some of them, she said, include low parental understanding of the importance of immunisation, concerns about side effects such as fever, and the prevalence of hoaxes and negative issues surrounding vaccines. In addition, according to her, limitations in access and vaccine availability in several areas remain a challenge. For this reason, she hopes that all these obstacles can be quickly overcome through close cooperation between the government and the community. In this way, efforts to produce a healthy and competitive future generation for the nation can soon be realised.