The Dean of the Unud Medical Faculty Attends the Inauguration of the Biomedical and Genome Science Initiative (BGSi)

Welcoming the celebration of Indonesia's independence day and in an effort to provide precision medical services for the community, the Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) officially launched the Biomedical & Genome Science Initiative (BGSi) at the Eijkman Building, RSUPN Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo (RSCM), Jakarta. (14/8/2022)

 

The Dean of FK Unud, Dr. dr. Komang Januartha Putra Pinatih, M.Kes attended the launch together with the President Director of RSUP Prof. I.G.N.G. Ngoerah, Dean of FK UI-IMERI, Dean of FK UGM, Dean of SITH-ITB, and other invitees.

 

Quoting from the broadcast of the Communications and Public Service Bureau of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, BGSi is the first national initiative program created by the Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin to develop more appropriate treatment for the community.

 

BGSi relies on the technology of collecting genetic information (genome) from humans and pathogens such as viruses and bacteria or can be called whole genome sequencing (WGS).

 

The development of the WGS, said the Minister of Health, is in line with the transformation of biotechnology in biosurveillance activities and health services aimed at increasing pathogen detection and improving treatment.

Previously, the WGS method itself had been used and played an important role in the prevention of COVID-19 in Indonesia.

 

“This technology is very important for public health in the future. Through this genome sequencing biotechnology, our ability to identify the source of the disease and treat it will be very certain and personal,” explained Minister of Health Budi.

 

Through BGSi, the WGS method will be used for research and development of treatment in six other main disease categories, namely cancer, infectious diseases, brain and neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic diseases, genetic disorders, and aging.

 

In its implementation, BGSi was carried out in seven vertical hospitals, namely RSCM RSUPN, National Brain Center Hospital (PON Hospital), Sulianto Saroso Hospital, Friendship Hospital, Dharmais Cancer Hospital, Sardjito Hospital, to Prof I.G.N.G. Squeeze.

 

Currently there are only 12 WGS machines in Indonesia. To support the running of BGSi, the Ministry of Health is adding 48 machines that will be deployed in various national referral hospitals involved in BGSi which are equipped with high-throughput sequencing machines capable of processing hundreds of samples of the human genome per week.

 

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, who was also present at the launch of BGS-i, encouraged this initiative to be improved and expanded through collaboration with technology investors from other countries.