House to Form Committee to Oversee Fake Vaccine Distribution

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A lawmaker from the House’s Health Commission Ermalena said her commission will form a working committee to oversee fake drug and vaccine distribution. “It will be effective next week,” she told Tempo yesterday.

Ermalena expected the committee to issue recommendations for the relevant parties to prevent recurrence of such scandal. “We hope it could help BPOM [Drugs and Food Monitoring Agency] in their oversight,” he said.

According to Ermalena, the committee will discuss the results of the House’s recent working meeting with the Health Ministry, calling for the evaluation of four ministerial regulations.

The four regulations are Health Ministry Regulation No. 30/2014 on pharmaceutical service standard in community health center, Health Ministry Regulation No. 35/2014 on pharmaceutical service standard in drugstores, Health Ministry Regulation No. 58 on pharmaceutical service standard in hospitals, Health Ministry Regulation No. 2/2016 on drug quality management in government pharmaceutical installation.

The evaluation of the four regulations is expected to boost BPOM in drug and food monitoring, from production, to distribution, to their usage. “The BPOM role has not been maximized due to the regulations,” Ermalena said.

Ermalena added that the committee’s work is expected to be concluded within one week if the discussion is carried out extensively.

AHMAD FAIZ