TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia, Pandu Riono, responded to survey results of a pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia that many young people put their trust in Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin in the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"This is important because many people disagreed with the incompetence of the previous minister. Even though the current minister is not a doctor, he is acceptable,” said Pandu in the release of the pollster’s survey of national youth’s voice on socio-political issues on Sunday, March 21, 2021.

Pandu said that it was not necessary that the health minister was not a medical professional as long as he could present real work to the community.

He recalled that when supporting Budi Gunadi Sadikin to be the Health Minister in replacement of Terawan Agus Putranto, many health professionals were irritated. “[They asked me] why the minister is not a doctor, the Health Ministry should be led by a doctor. I said it was not important, the important thing was the person has the capability to work, accommodate, encourage health among the public,” said Pandu.

The survey revealed that 42.9 percent of young people were confident that Budi Gunadi Sadikin could work well in containing the Covid-19 pandemic. Pandu opined the result proved that youngsters were more open-minded.

“They are more tolerant to face it. In politics, the status is not important, but what matters is how they work according to their (the public) interests,” he said.

Read: One Year into Covid-19 Pandemic; Jakarta Asserts Collaboration is Key

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