UNS — Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta successfully held an international conference entitled ‘Youth International Conference For Global Health 2022’ on Saturday (17/9/2022). The international conference was conducted in collaboration between the Centre for Democracy and National Resilience Studies (Pusdemtanas), Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) UNS, and the UNS Academic and Student Bureau.
The main topic discussed—and at the same time became the main theme of the conference—was ‘Strengthening a Comprehensive Global Health Architecture to Realize World Collaboration in Facing A Pandemic.’ This topic was discussed in detail by Dr. Sergio Da Lobo, the Consultant for World Health Organization (WHO) from East Timor as keynote speaker, alongside three other invited speakers, namely Dr. Tonang Dwi Aryanto, Ph.D., Viddy Firmandiaz, and Dr. Sunny Ummul Firdaus. The conference and discussions went interactively, with Rachma Indriyani, LL.M., Ph.D. as moderator.
This international conference was attended by UNS International Students from East Timor, Egypt, Bangladesh, Sudan, Nigeria, Suriname, Chad, Algeria, Izwanda, Yemen, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and Syria, as well as undergraduate students from UNS and other universities in Indonesia. This event was opened with the Executive Chairman’s report recited by R. Prihandjojo Andri Putranto, dr., M.Si., and followed by the opening remark delivered by the Rector of UNS, Prof. Dr. Jamal Wiwoho, SH, M. Hum., the Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs UNS, Prof. Dr. Ir. H. Ahmad Yunus M.S., who at the same time officially opened the conference.
Delivering a keynote speech following the opening remarks, Dr. Sergio Da Lobo explained the Covid-19 condition that lasted for two to three years, which surprised the world, especially with its large socio-economic impact and health impact. “With the extensive experience and efforts in preventing and handling the spread of Covid-19, this pandemic has become a lesson to create a global construction for pandemic management, starting from government policies, appropriate health management systems, cooperation among communities and countries, and policies on the financial-economic system,” said Dr. Sergio Da Lobo.
The material presented was then followed by the topic of “Learning from the Past for Possible Next Pandemic,” delivered by dr. Tonang Dwi Ardyanto, Ph.D., provided an explanation of the history of pandemic transmission in the world, the development of the Covid-19 pandemic case, lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic, and necessary steps to be prepared to deal with the possibility of the next pandemic. The following material, discussing legal problems that occurred during the spread of Covid-19 in the Indonesian community, was delivered by Dr. Sunny Ummul Firdaus, who describes the legal roadmap for disease outbreak vaccination implementation, which includes solutions and recommendations for the five problems that occurred. “The ideal concept that can be applied to overcome this situation is to improve the applicable legal substance, disseminate and educate the community, create communication strategies and community targeting, evaluate legal problems, establish a legal umbrella for assuring clinical trials of vaccines, and coordination with relevant stakeholders,” explained Dr. Sunny.
The Rector of UNS, Prof. Dr. Jamal Wiwoho, SH, M.Hum., in his remarks, states that this international conference will provide novelty value in the education sector, better health innovation, and bring a positive contribution to the people’s lives to help them face the next pandemic. “This benefit can be seen from various ideas and innovations presented by the participants through their scientific papers in each sub-theme. The presented scientific papers will also be published in the indexed proceeding Atlantis Press,” said Prof. Jamal.
With this international conference, Dr. Andri Putranto, as the Committee Chairman, hopes that this conference can provide a great scientific contribution, especially in terms of prevention, preparation, and handling efforts in various sectors that will be affected by the development of a future pandemic.
“With the idea and innovation presented at this conference, this will certainly be a novelty and a separate recommendation for Indonesia—and other countries—to prepare policies and efforts to strengthen the global health sector and encourage international cooperation efforts. Moreover, this conference cannot be separated from the support of BPD Bank Jateng,” concluded Dr. Andri. Humas UNS
Reporter: Erliska Yuniar Purbayani
Editor: Dwi Hastuti