Wednesday, October 5, 2022, the Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Public Health Universitas Indonesia (FPHUI) held a webinar with the theme “Environmental and Public Health Insight Post-Pandemic”. This webinar is part of the World Class Professor 2022 (WCP) seminar series, a collaboration between the Department of Environmental Health FPHUI, Medical University of Vienna Austria, and Prof. Dr. Hamka Muhammadiyah University.
The webinar was moderated by Dr. Syawal Kamiluddin Saptaputra, S.K.M., M.P.H., and opened with remarks by the Head of the Department of Environmental Health FPHUI, Dr. drg. Ririn Arminsih Wulandari, M.Kes. “This webinar was held with the aim of improving the competence of all of us as environmental health academics. Hopefully the presence of this webinar can bring benefits to all participants,” said Dr. Ririn in her remarks.
Keynote speaker, Prof. Doz. Dr. Hanns Moshammer, from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. presented the material on public and environmental health post pandemic. According to Prof. Moshammer, the COVID-19 pandemic is not only a public health problem, but also a social and environmental problem. “Temperature changes in Vienna affect the risk of death, especially for vulnerable groups. Infrastructure adaptation, technical solutions, physiological adaptation, and behavioural adaptation are needed to deal with these changes,” said Prof. Hanns.
In the panellists session, Prof. Dr. Budi Haryanto, S.K.M., M.Kes., M.Sc., Head of the Indonesian Center for Climate Change and Lecturer at FPHUI, spoke about environmental health in post pandemic COVID-19. “Environment and climate now have a big role in a person’s health. A healthy environment can prevent almost 25% of the world’s health burden,” said Prof. Budi. The next panellist Prof. Drs. Bambang Wispriyono, Apt., Ph.D., Supervisory Board of PDAM Tirta Asasta Depok and Lecturer of FPHUI pointed out the variety of environmental health issues faced today. “There are many environmental health issues, ranging from water and sanitation, air pollution, to medical waste. Strengthening can be done in terms of research and publications, webinars, as well as policies and programs to overcome this problem,” said Prof. Bambang in his presentation on environmental health issues in the post pandemic era in Indonesia.
The third panellist was Dr. Wahyu Pudji Nugraheni, S.K.M., M.Kes., Head of Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, BRIN. Dr. Wahyu spoke specifically on financing patterns for cardiovascular disease before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a decrease in cardiovascular disease cases during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a decrease in the number of visits to health care facilities. “There is a pseudo-reduction in cardiovascular disease cases. The cases are not decreasing, just delayed due to the pandemic. There is a possibility of a spike in cases in the period after the pandemic,” concluded Dr. Wahyu.
The webinar was closed with a speech by Dr. Al Asyary Upe, S.K.M., M.P.H., WCP 2022 awardee. “The lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the quality of air pollution. But on the other hand, pollution caused by cigarette smoke has become uncontrollable,” said Al Asyary. According to Al Asyary, this is due to the increased intensity of smoking while at home.
The webinar is expected to broaden participants’ knowledge about environmental health and its relationship with COVID-19 and the current post COVID-19 period. (WR)