Indonesian medical frontliners during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: Have we been protecting them enough?

⁵ Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, National Cardiovascular Center Harapan Kita, Jakarta, Indonesia

JCTR 2021, 7(4), 558–562; https://doi.org/10.18053/jctres.07.202104.013

Submitted: 4 November 2020 | Revised: 4 January 2021 | Accepted: 25 June 2021 | Published: 30 July 2021

© 2021 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )

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Abstract

Background and aim: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has brought deteriorating physical and mental burdens to healthcare workers (HCWs) in Indonesia, mainly attributed to the lack of protection and screening among HCWs, patients' concealment of their travel and medical history, and perceived social stigma and discrimination. Hence, we deliver our perspectives and recommendations based on the current situation in Indonesia to enforce their safeties. We encourage stakeholders to implement a systematic approach by employing stringent prevention strategies, ensuring adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) provision and equitable PPE distribution, and routine HCWs screening to prevent nosocomial clusters, in addition to the provision of psychosocial support to HCWs by offering social aids and psychological sessions. Furthermore, social stigma and discrimination towards HCWs and patients should also be addressed and mitigated, thus preventing concealments of patients’ history and alleviating emotional burdens. We believe that providing continuous support to HCWs would lead to key benefits in ensuring a winning battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Relevance for patients: HCWs are pivotal players in winning the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Ensuring their safety and wellbeing will enable them to deliver better healthcare services, thus resulting in mutual benefit for themselves, the patients, and the nation’s recovery.

Conflict of interest

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

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