Project News

The second JCC meeting was held to review the progress made, approve an annual work plan of the Project, and discuss major issues for necessary actions.

In introductory remarks, Mr Shunsuke Takatoi, representing JICA Indonesia Office, expressed his respect and gratitude to the hard work of Badan POM in the outbreak of COVID-19, and remarked especially about PCR testing for detecting infections and authorization/approval of vaccines for combatting SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Project has extended its support to hosting the webinar on PCR testing of the viruses and providing re-qPCR systems and related equipment / consumables as a part of Japan's Initiative for Global Health and Medicine. He hoped that the project could fully utilize the extended period and bring fruitful results in the end of March 2022.

Mr Noorman Effendi, Head of Cooperation and Public Relations Bureau, on behalf of Ms Elin Herlina, Permanent Secretary of Badan POM, expressed gratitude of Badan POM to JICA for the tremendous assistance in the Project to improve the Badan POM's competency and capacity through 37 activities that support drug and food control. He hoped that the Project could continue to strengthen the pre- and post-market capacities in ensuring the quality, safety, efficacy of drugs and biological products, and traditional medicines, health supplements, cosmetics as well as food.

The progress of the activities made in the Project until the year 2020 and its workplan of 2021-22 were summarized by JICA Experts in each drug and food safety area. In Drug safety, most of the activities were successfully completed, and one remaining activity of developing pharmacovigilance inspection guideline and new additional activities such as pharmacovigilance graded modules would be steadily conducted.

Food safety activities had been and would be implemented as planned in view of strengthening administration of food safety supervision and capacity/capability of laboratory analysis. It would continue to work in the high-priority area of enhancing safety control of food producing Small-Medium Enterprises.

Future perspectives on drug and food activities were announced by Mr Noorman in view of enhancing collaboration between JICA and BPOM for high priority issues, in particular,

• post market medicine safety systems, biological products as drugs and vaccines, drug evaluation, clinical trial and bio equivalent
• traditional medicines, health supplements and cosmetics
• some laboratory issues such as monoclonal antibody products, specific species identification in drug and food for product authentication inspection, and quality control of pneumococcal vaccine; and
• enhancing capability of self-management in home industries, safety control of food contact material

Approximately 60 officers participated either in offline or online the meeting from Badan POM, Ministry of State Secretariat (Setneg), BAPPENAS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, JICA Headquarters, JICA Indonesia Office and the Project office.

Mr Noorman Effendi (center in front row), Ms Yuli Hijrah Saputri (second from left in front row) from Bureau of Cooperation and Public Relations, three JICA Experts - Mr Yoshihiko Sano, Ms Noriko Iseki, and Mr Isamu Kuboki (fifth to seventh from left in front row) and officers from Deputy of Drug, Narcotics, Psychotropics, Precursors, and Addictive Substances Control, Deputy of Processed Food Control, and the National Quality Control Laboratory of Food and Drug appear in the group photo.