THE EDITOR – Makassar City Government has won two awards in the health category this year from prestigious national and international events.
The first one was achieved last August, when Makassar Mayor Danny Pomanto won the Southeast Asian (ASEAN) Healthy City 2024 award through his various policies and innovations. One of them is through the Home Care Dottoroto innovation that focuses on serving health in the alleys so that it reaches the entire community. This free health service already has 94 fleets and is equipped with doctors who will serve the community.
“Makassar City received an award worth US$3,000, and later the mayors of cities in Southeast Asia who received the award will have a virtual discussion with the Director of WHO (World Health Organization),” he said on Tuesday, 27 August 2024.
Regional Advisor for Health Promotion and Social Determinants of Health WHO SEARO, Suvajee Good, stated that the award was given after Makassar City went through an evaluation of documents assessed by the Regional Laboratory of Urban Governance for Health and Well-Being at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
“The Batch 1 2024 award is a barometer for other cities to prepare themselves to get into the healthy city network,” she said.
RECEIVES AN AWARD AS THE BEST HAJJ HEALTH ORGANIZER
Illustration (PHOTO: Religius Affair/THE EDITOR)
Not only that, on Friday (15/11/2024), Makassar also won the award as the Best Hajj Health Organiser 2024 in South Sulawesi.
Head of Makassar City Health Office Nursaidah Sirajuddin said that health assistance for prospective hajj pilgrims had started long before departure by involving 47 community health centers.
Thus, one year before departure, health monitoring of the pilgrims is more rigorous, including ensuring the physical fitness of each prospective pilgrim.
He also noted that in the 2023 Hajj season, the Health Office managed to maintain the health of Makassar City’s pilgrims, even without recording any deaths. Makassar achieved this consistency through continuous monitoring of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension and the provision of medicines guided by accompanying doctors.
“In addition to strict monitoring before departure, we also ensure the health monitoring of pilgrims for 21 days after their return, to anticipate adjustments to their health conditions in the country,” he said.
The city of Makassar under Danny’s leadership is known to consistently maintain the Healthy City award from the Ministry of Health for the 2022 and 2023 periods. The award is inseparable from his commitment in realizing the accessibility of health services in Makassar City.
