Washington, DC., (09/29/2020). BIANKA or Bincang Karya is a serial-webinar held by the Indonesian Embassy in Washington D.C., USA through the Attaché for Education and Culture. The recorded live event of BIANKA Seri-7 can be accessed in the following link.
http://bit.ly/fb-watch-bianka7
Several speakers were presented at the 7th series of BIANKA (with the theme COVID-19’s Medical Latest Research) to give a presentation on the theme of health and medicine. Prof. Popy Rufaidah as the Education and Cultural Attaché chaired this event.
The first presentation was delivered by Prof. Jon Macy, PhD., mph., Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health, Indiana University. Prof. Macy explained that in his department there are master and doctoral programs held either online or conventional programs on campus. Apart from these two programs, there is also a PhD in Environmental Health program. These programs are supported by adequate facilities as well as community-based public health so that theories in college can be harmonized with conditions in the field.
Prof. Stefan Rothenburg, MD, Ph.D., Associate professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis (UC Davis) continued the discussion. Prof. Rothenburg briefly explained his background on UC Davis and the Microbiology Graduate Group. Prof. Rothenburg also revealed UC Davis ‘excellence in the field of microbiology, for example UC Davis’ involvement in the third phase trial of the Corona virus vaccine.
The discussion about the Covid-19 vaccine was continued by Anak Agung Dewi Megawati, S.Si., M.Biomed from the University of California. Ms. Megawati explained in general about viral infections and vaccines and discussed vaccines for Covid-19. There are four types of vaccines with 11 brands that are now being developed to deal with the Corona virus. All of these vaccines have entered their third clinical trial phase and are expected to be ready for use in 2021.
After discussing the Corona virus vaccine, the discussion was continued with a discussion about breastfeeding during the pandemic. This presentation was delivered by Ummu Ditya Erliana, S.Gz., MS., CLC from the School of Public Health-Indiana University. Ms. Erliana revealed that there is no research showing that breast milk can be a transmission medium for Covid-19. Mothers who are positive for Covid-19 do not infect their children through breastfeeding as long as the mother maintain the health protocols during the breastfeeding activity such as wearing a mask, washing hands before and after breastfeeding, and ensuring the breast hygiene.
After two professors and two health students from overseas campuses gave their presentation, the discussion was continued by Prof. I Ketut Sutayasa, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Bali, Prof. Sutayasa said that the Covid-19 pandemic had impacts on all aspects of life, especially the tourism aspect, the impact of which was felt by Balinese people. In response to this, Prof. Sutayasa is working on a new breakthrough to overcome Covid-19 by conducting a research that puts forward an epidemiological and clinical approach. In addition, the Professor said that collaboration between cross-border researches and education was needed so that the pandemic would end soon.