COVID-19: Beyond a Public Health Crisis
by: Albert Au & Raditya Darningtyas The flaws and injustices embedded in the Indonesian socio-economic systems have been exposed by COVID-19. From the way our BPJS National Health Program fails to provide essential services during these critical times to the inconsistencies between our central and regional governments are on policies surrounding Mudik . By treating the pandemic solely as a “health crisis”, we risk over-emphasizing healthcare over other growing problems in other sectors. In reality, the pandemic we are in isn’t an exclusively health-related phenomenon, its impact is widespread. The healthcare, labor, economy, agriculture, and the environment sectors overlap more than they seem. If anything, the ongoing pandemic has exposed their close relationship with one another. Our government, once an advocate of a “health-centric” approach to the crisis, has switched gears to an economic one with the introduction of the “new normal” protocols. Further illustrating h...