The Banjarbaru City Health Office sent its own staff into the field on Tuesday (Nov. 3, 2026) to support the School Children Immunization Month program, known in Indonesia as BIAS, and a simultaneous measles outbreak response in Cempaka, according to Media Center Banjarbaru. The team came from the office's Surveillance and Immunization Section, working under the coordination of its Disease Prevention and Control division. One focus site was SDN 1 Cempaka, where the routine BIAS schedule ran alongside Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI) activities.
Why it matters
The dual push matters because it pairs a standing national immunization routine with an emergency measure in the same place at the same time. According to Media Center Banjarbaru, the ORI was launched as a fast response to guard against a possible rise in suspected measles cases in the Cempaka district. Rather than limiting the effort to schools, the health office extended its ORI support to several posyandu, the community health posts spread across Cempaka subdistrict.
Media Center Banjarbaru reports that the purpose of the field support was to keep this November's child protection drive running smoothly, effectively and on target. The office framed the work as part of its commitment to safeguarding children's health resilience in the city.
Health staff stepped in to help with injections
The visiting team did more than observe. According to Media Center Banjarbaru, health office personnel directly assisted with the technical side of administering immunizations on site. The reason given was practical: local puskesmas, or community health centers, have to divide their medical staff across multiple service points, so extra hands at each location help keep the service running.
Acting head of the Banjarbaru City Health Office, dr. Ani Rusmila, said the responsive approach and on-the-ground assistance reflected the local government's commitment to protecting children's health. Media Center Banjarbaru quotes her saying that through the BIAS support and the ORI rollout, the office wants to ensure every child receives optimal health protection, and that a quick response in Cempaka is important to curb the potential spread of suspected measles cases early.
She also stressed the need for cooperation across sectors and for parents and the wider community to take an active part in making the immunization program a success. According to Media Center Banjarbaru, she expressed hope that residents, schools and all stakeholders would fully back both BIAS and ORI, describing shared awareness and support as the key to keeping children safe from diseases that immunization can prevent.
Watch for the health office's follow-up reports on ORI coverage in Cempaka and on whether additional suspected measles cases are recorded in the district.
