Indonesia's Covid-19 Health Worker Death Toll Sixth-Highest in the World

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia is among countries with the highest numbers of medical workers who lost their lives in the battle against Covid-19, Amnesty International Indonesia said.

“Covid-19 has claimed the lives of 112 doctors and 69 nurses in Indonesia,” Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said during the launch of an online tribute for fallen medical personnel in Jakarta on September 5.

Citing Amnesty International’s statistics, Usman noted that Covid-19 has killed over 7,000 medical workers around the world.

Also read: One Hundred Indonesian Doctors Die at Frontlines Fighting Covid-19

Mexico leads in this grim count with 1,320 fatalities, followed by the United States with 1,077, India with 573, Brazil with 324, and South Africa with 240.

Indonesia’s number of fallen medical personnel is the sixth-highest in the world.

“Aside from finding an effective way to break the chain of infection, countries around the world are obliged to protect their medical workers,” he added.

“I hope that this online tribute will raise the Indonesian government’s awareness [of the Indonesian medical workers’] sacrifices.”

The University of Indonesia backed Amnesty International Indonesia’s findings. A study by its Faculty of Medicine estimated 83 percent of Indonesian medical workers experienced Covid-19 related burnout since the pandemic was first detected in Indonesia last March.

Also read: Government Urged to Protect Health Professionals from Covid-19

“Overall, 82 percent of the health workers surveyed showed mild to moderate [burnout] symptoms, while 1 percent is heavily affected,” said research team head Dewi Sumarko in a press conference discussing the findings on September 4.

“22.1 percent of [medical workers] surveyed experienced major symptoms of [emotional burnout]. The percentage of those heavily affected by empathetic burnout is 11.2 percent, while those who showed the same heavy blow to their self-confidence is 29.4 percent.”

The University of Indonesia survey had 1,461 respondents throughout Indonesia aged 18 to 63.

The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) also raised the correlation between Covid-19 induced exhaustion and stress among doctors with their deaths. The government also drew the same conclusions, leading them to provide incentives and compensations for medical workers.

(Writers: Ardito Ramadhan, Sania Mashabi | Editors: Bayu Galih, Krisiandi)

Sources:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/09/05/18335861/amnesty-sebut-angka-kematian-tenaga-kesehatan-ri-salah-satu-terbesar-di. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/09/04/22453271/riset-fkui-83-persen-tenaga-kesehatan-alami-burnout.