There is a proverb saying that prevention is better than cure. Accordingly, it is considered to be more preferable to invest in preventative measure than to invest in conducting research and treating diseases which are more expensive. In my opinion, I agree with this statement, but with some notes. In this regard, I believe that both measures could be done simultaneously without putting pressure on budget.
Firstly, preventative measures are indeed cheaper. However, there are some situations where preventative ones are ineffective and thus, they need to be supplemented by investment in researching, studying and treating diseases. For instance, in the case of COVID-19 pandemics, at the outset of the outbreak, government promulgated several instructions to check any passengers arriving in Indonesia from overseas in every airport to prevent the imported COVID-19 cases. However, we now realise that neither is the preventative measure proven effective nor efficient since the are many borders in Indonesia being left unwatched. In this respect, safeguarding every border in Indonesia is extremely costly.
Secondly, conducting research and study to find out the way to cure the diseases can be less expensive if from the beginning, government supports the funding of universities to conduct research in the area of disease study. By providing sufficient funding, universities can use the fund to improve its capacity and to incentivise them in conducting innovative research for diseases. Moreover, the funding may also be allocated to build university hospitals. In this perspective, I believe that having routine funding will not be burdensome for government budget compared to having to fund research amid this pandemic situation without any proper infrastructure and resources for the research and treatment.
All in all, having a proper mechanism to prevent diseases is important. Nevertheless, the availability of research and treatment diseases for particular diseases is also fundamental because there are circumstances where preventative actions are ineffective.
There is a proverb saying that prevention is better than cure.
Accordingly
, it
is considered
to be more preferable to invest in preventative
measure
than to invest in conducting
research
and treating
diseases
which are more expensive. In my opinion, I
agree
with this statement,
but
with
some
notes. In this regard, I believe that both
measures
could
be done
simultaneously
without putting pressure on budget.
Firstly
, preventative
measures
are
indeed
cheaper.
However
, there are
some
situations where preventative ones are ineffective and
thus
, they need to
be supplemented
by investment in researching, studying and treating
diseases
.
For instance
, in the case of COVID-19 pandemics, at the outset of the outbreak,
government
promulgated several instructions to
check
any passengers arriving in Indonesia from overseas in every airport to
prevent
the imported COVID-19 cases.
However
, we
now
realise that neither is the preventative
measure
proven effective nor efficient since the are
many
borders in Indonesia being
left
unwatched. In this respect, safeguarding every border in Indonesia is
extremely
costly.
Secondly
, conducting
research
and study to find out the way to cure the
diseases
can be less expensive if from the beginning,
government
supports the
funding
of universities to conduct
research
in the area of
disease
study. By providing sufficient
funding
, universities can
use
the fund to
improve
its capacity and to incentivise them in conducting innovative
research
for
diseases
.
Moreover
, the
funding
may
also
be allocated
to build university hospitals. In this perspective, I believe that having routine
funding
will not be burdensome for
government
budget compared to having to fund
research
amid this pandemic situation without any proper infrastructure and resources for the
research
and treatment.
All in all, having a proper mechanism to
prevent
diseases
is
important
.
Nevertheless
, the availability of
research
and treatment
diseases
for particular
diseases
is
also
fundamental
because
there are circumstances where preventative actions are ineffective.