1Berita – In anticipation of the New Year 2024, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is offering 2,890 health facilities in the form of free health posts for public use. These posts provide basic healthcare services, including blood pressure checks, emergency services, and acupuncture massage facilities at several locations.
Spread across various rest areas, toll gates, places of worship, tourist spots, and crossing points, the services provided at these posts also offer referrals with two types of coverage: health coverage by the Health Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) and accident coverage by Jasa Raharja.
One of the MoH health posts is located at Merak Port, Banten, and the Cikopo route in West Java. Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health, stated that the health post at Merak Port is ready to serve the public.
“As of this monitoring, the services at the Merak Port health post are still under control,” said Kunta.
On average, seven people receive services at the Merak health post every day. Kunta hopes that road users experiencing health issues can be promptly addressed and referred if necessary.
Additionally, the presence of health posts is reinforced by community health centers (puskesmas) and hospitals, especially those located along tourist routes.
“This includes those on the Cikopo route, where we collaborate with Siloam Hospitals. This is our readiness to face the New Year holiday period from December 18, 2023, to January 6, 2024,” said Kunta.
At the Merak Port health post, monitoring is also conducted for environmental health risk factors, passenger health risk factors, crew and port worker health, including examinations of sick individuals at the port, and referrals to hospitals.
As of December 27, 40 people visited the Merak health post, covering various complaints, including respiratory infections, ear diseases, cavities, hypertension, hematoma, sinus node dysfunction (SND), muscle pain (myalgia), blood pressure checks, and digestive disorders.
Meanwhile, on the Cikopo route, the MoH ensures the availability of health service posts at toll exits, operational toll lanes, non-toll areas or tourist spots, terminals, stations, and rest areas.
In addition to setting up health posts, the MoH’s efforts to safeguard public health also include deploying PSC 119 (Health Emergency Service) on toll roads, especially at rest areas, with four-wheeled or two-wheeled ambulance accommodations to facilitate evacuation if needed.
Dr. Azhar Jaya, the Director-General of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, added that, apart from health posts, all community health centers and hospitals are on alert as a precaution for the New Year 2024 moment.
“Health services during the New Year holiday are supported by all community health centers, totaling 10,147, and hospitals totaling 3,187,” said Dr. Azhar.
