HM Sampoerna, Indonesia's largest tobacco company, decided to close two of its seven hand-rolled cigarette factories as the company needs restructuring due to its declining market share in the country's hand-rolled cigarettes industry. The market share fell from 30.4 percent in 2009 to 23.1 percent in 2013 as consumers are shifting to machine-rolled cigarettes. HM Sampoerna's hand-rolled cigarette plants in Jember and Lumajang (both in East Java) will be closed on 31 May 2014 and will lead to the termination of 4,900 employees.

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Today (Saturday 05/04), Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of the Microsoft Corporation as well as the world's richest person (with a net worth of USD $76 billion according to Forbes), arrives in Jakarta for the launch of the Indonesia Health Fund. This fund, which is established through a cooperation between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Tahir Foundation, aims to combat diseases such as HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, polio and malaria (both in Indonesia and outside Indonesia).

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The Indonesian government should take more action to reverse the country's widening income distribution inequality. Indonesia's Gini ratio, the coefficient that measures inequality among income distribution, has risen in 2013 according to economist Lana Soelistianingsih. The Gini coefficient rose from 0.37 in 2012 to 0.41 in 2013 (a coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality, while one implies maximal inequality). The growth not only shows that the Indonesian government fails to tackle this problem but also implies social risks.

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On 5 April 2014, the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private foundation, will travel to Indonesia to join Southeast Asia's largest economy in its combat against malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS as well as to support the country's birth control program through donating a total of USD $100 million. The foundation will also conduct fundraising in Indonesia by inviting various Indonesian businessmen to donate funds for the eradication of aforementioned diseases.

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SidoMuncul Herbal, Indonesia´s largest herbal medicine producer, is expected to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in the fourth quarter of 2013. The company, established in 1951, is a fully-modernized herbal company that strives to produce and market products that support the people´s health and well-being. The company will release 20 percent of its shares on the IDX and targets to raise IDR 1.5 trillion (USD $130 million). Kresna Securities acts as underwriter for the IPO.

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Forest fires on the Indonesian island Sumatra have brought severe smog over Singapore's skyline for the past five days, reaching record breaking levels of air pollution in Southeast Asia's wealthy city state. The forest fires are believed to be caused by illegal slash and burn practice on Indonesia's forest-rich island of Sumatra (for palm oil expansion) and represent a recurring problem in the dry season. Besides the environmental disaster, the forest fires cause health issues as well as economic losses for Singapore.

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It is interesting to take a quick look at Indonesia’s national healthcare program (in Indonesian: Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, JKN) that is managed by the government’s Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan).

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The COVID-19 crisis in Indonesia continues to show an easing trend reflected in the declining number of new positive COVID-19 test results across the Archipelago in September 2021 (a trend that started in mid-July 2021 when the tsunami-shaped wave of new COVID-19 cases peaked).

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For more than a year now, small-scale studies from around the world suggest that a medicine called Ivermectin (which is actually used to treat various types of parasite infestations) is effective to combat COVID-19, both in a prophylactic (prevention) and therapeutic (treatment) setting.

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On 1 July 2021 Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced emergency measures (in Indonesian: Pemberlakukan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat Darurat, or PPKM Darurat, which roughly translates to the Enforcement of Restrictions on Activities in Society) in a renewed effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The pharmaceutical industry has been a center of focus in the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis because it has an important role to play. This industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets (pharmaceutical) drugs for use as medications, with the aim to cure the patients, vaccinate them, or alleviate the symptoms. Hence, developing a vaccine or cure to COVID-19 is the responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry.

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Across the globe governments and pharmaceutical companies are busy working on a vaccine to make people immune against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Having the availability of a reliable vaccine would be a solution because COVID-19 seems to spread quite easily, while the majority of the world's population remains vulnerable to the virus.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) repeatedly emphasizes that hygienic sanitation facilities are crucial for public health. It is estimated that each year around 842,000 people in low and middle-income countries die as a result of inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene. Poor sanitation is believed to be the main cause in some 280,000 of these deaths.

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The Indonesian government launched its universal healthcare program (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, or JKN) on 1 January 2014. This government-subsidized program aims to cover all Indonesian citizens - providing them with access to a wide range of health services – by the year 2019.

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Health awareness in Indonesia is at a very low level, especially in the cities, as Indonesians tend to eat too much unhealthy food and exercise too little. Therefore, health awareness is something that needs to be encouraged in Indonesia. However, government programs - such as the "Healthy Four, Perfect Five" principles - seem to have limited effect and therefore there is plenty of room for the private sector to encourage consumers to lead a healthier lifestyle. In fact, encouraging a healthier lifestyle can become part of a business model.

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Culinary is certainly a promising business in Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta. Jakarta Dining Index Research done by Qraved reveals that every year, Jakartans dine out as many as 380 million times and spend up to IDR 21.4 trillion (approx. USD $1.5 billion). This fact is supported by huge growth of mid-scale restaurants (amounting up to 250 percent) in the last five years. It is therefore not surprising that Jakarta has an abundant option of restaurants.

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