Speaker of Indonesia's DPR: Hantavirus Awareness Must Reach the Grassroots

Jakarta – The Speaker of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, has called on the government to provide certainty of information and public protection in facing the threat of hantavirus to avoid societal panic.

Puan reminded that the public is currently in a highly sensitive situation regarding health issues following the COVID-19 pandemic experience.

The emergence of hantavirus cases, according to her, needs to be handled with a calm, open approach based on public protection.

“The biggest challenge in facing the emergence of uncommon disease threats must be addressed from various aspects,” said Puan in her statement on Monday, 11 May 2026.

The government, she said, needs to maintain public trust through clear information, measured anticipatory steps, and protection that can be felt by the public.

As an anticipatory step to prevent the spread of hantavirus, she assessed that the government needs to act quickly to ensure the public understands the situation comprehensively, starting from its transmission patterns, who the most vulnerable groups are, how to prevent it, and to what extent the risk level is for the general public.

She considered openness of information to be an important part of public protection. Because, Puan said, when the public does not receive sufficient explanations, space for disinformation and fear can develop faster than the handling itself.

“Not just based on technical explanations that are difficult for the wider public to access. Awareness efforts must directly reach the grassroots,” she said.

On the other hand, she also highlighted the importance of readiness of local health services in detecting and handling diseases quickly. She also asked the government to strengthen surveillance to prevent virus transmission.

According to her, environmental-based disease threats often first appear in areas with uneven health service capacity and environmental monitoring.

For this reason, she encouraged the government not to only focus on handling emerging cases.

“But also to strengthen regional preparedness, including readiness of health facilities and medical personnel, laboratories and other supporting facilities, as well as early detection mechanisms and rapid reporting,” said Puan.