The Biological Weapons Threat Is Real: How Prepared Is Indonesia's Defence?
JAKARTA — The shape of future global conflict rests not only on physical, conventional weaponry but also on non-physical threats in the form of biological weapons. The subject was examined at length on the Kholis-Fadhil Show, broadcast by Media Club Indonesia.
In the discussion, Kholis Abdurachim Audah, M.Sc., Ph.D. (Executive Director of the Center for Health and Education Studies) stressed that biological warfare is so dangerous precisely because it can strike a population invisibly, without anyone realising it.
Airborne Pathogens and Fragile Health Facilities
The bacteria and viruses with the greatest potential as biological weapons are generally airborne, because they spread so quickly. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a reminder — a blessing in disguise — that Indonesia's readiness to mitigate biological threats still needs serious work:
- Biosafety Level (BSL) facilities remain scarce — Indonesia is still well short of BSL-3 laboratories, and has no BSL-4 facility at all.
- Hospital capacity and imported equipment — the hospital-bed ratio is still low (roughly 1 bed per 1,000 people), and around 90% of medical devices are still imported.
- Everyday environmental threats — unsanitary surroundings, poor waste handling, and endemic outbreaks such as dengue fever and tuberculosis already constitute a daily biological threat to the public.
Building on the Research Ecosystem and Domestic Natural Wealth
Dr Audah argued that to build a genuine biological defence, Indonesia does not need offensive biological weapons. What it needs is stronger prevention, better medical facilities, natural-product drug research, and self-reliant vaccination capacity.
Indonesia has an abundance of molecular-research talent (in organisations such as MABI) and a world-class vaccine producer in Biofarma. The main challenge lies in government commitment to a supportive, sustainable research ecosystem, so that the country's best talent can contribute fully to national health sovereignty.