In an effort to increase the effectiveness of vaccine protection in children, the government of the Republic of Indonesia through the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) provides a booster dose of vaccination at school age through the School Bulan Imunisasi Anak Sekolah (Children’s Immunization Month), or the BIAS program. This program involves teachers who act as facilitators and as “extensions” to disseminate information about the importance of vaccination for children, especially to parents of students.
Based on this, Universitas Indonesia (UI) through the Faculty of Public Health (FKM) conducted community service (pengmas) by providing training to teachers at SDN Pisangan Timur 18, East Jakarta. This training carried the theme “Pembekalan guru SDN Pisangan Timur 18 sebagai Disseminator Informasi Mengenai Pentingnya Vaksinasi untuk Anak Sekolah” (Provision of teachers of SDN Pisangan Timur 18 as Disseminators of Information Regarding the Importance of Vaccination for School Children).
Head of the FKM UI Pengmas Team Dr. rer. med. Putri Bungsu Machmud, SKM., M.Epid., said, “From the results of the final assignment research conducted by a FKM UI student, there are two main reasons for parents of children who do not receive vaccinations at school, namely the lack of information about the implementation of vaccinations and concerns about side effects, such as fever after immunization. These results are a strong basis for us to optimize the abilities and confidence of teachers as the closest source of information to parents through training.”
In addition to Dr. Putri Bungsu, the FKM UI Community Service Team includes two students, namely Maulita Rizqi Shafira, S.KM., and Novita Rizka Wardhani S.KM. In carrying out the community service, they collaborated with the East Jakarta Health Service (Sudinkes) and the Health Polytechnic (Poltekkes) of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) Jakarta 1.
Furthermore, Dr. Putri said that the training held on Thursday, September 12, included providing knowledge about the BIAS program to 26 teachers. It includes information on diseases that can be prevented by BIAS immunization, the benefits of vaccination for students, and the annual vaccination schedule at school. In this session, teachers were also given the opportunity to discuss with the Health Sub-Department regarding the obstacles to implementing the BIAS program so far.
Teachers were also given training in making information media regarding the importance of vaccination. This training targets results that have an impact on parents and students directly through the creation of infographics regarding vaccination carried out by teachers in groups accompanied by facilitators from FKM UI and Poltekkes Kemenkes Jakarta 1 students.
Furthermore, Dr. Putri said that the infographics would be printed and displayed at schools so that they could be read by students and parents. Moreover, the team also created a pocketbook containing information related to the BIAS program, types of vaccinations in schools, the benefits of vaccination, and other information to minimize misunderstandings for parents.
“This training activity is a good provision for us. Sometimes, there are still many parents who are not familiar with vaccination. I, myself, have found a case, there was one of my students who did not want to be immunized because his parents forbade it,” said Siti Juliati, S.Pd, Principal of SDN Pisangan Timur 18, East Jakarta. Meanwhile, the Manager of the Immunization Program of the East Jakarta Health Office, Muhamad Gupron, said that his party strongly supports this training program and hopes that similar activities can also be carried out in other schools.
“Activities like this are not only beneficial for schools but also provide a lot of good experience for our students and graduates in applying public health knowledge. We also hope that schools will not only be a place for academic processes, but also a place that supports students’ health as a whole,” said Dr. Putri.
