Ida Neni Haryanti remembers “falling in love with microscopes” when she first started working in a laboratory.
She also recalls being the first person in Indonesia’s Riau Islands province to collect a COVID-19 specimen.
“I remember wearing an astronaut suit. It was very scary because it was the new pandemic, but… it was extraordinary, that I was the person trusted by the lab to take the specimen. Even though I was afraid, I felt proud,” she says.
Ida is Head of the Virology Lab at the Center for Environmental Health Engineering and Disease Control in Batam, Indonesia. Like health care workers around the world, she remembers the intense pressure she and her colleagues endured during the height of the global pandemic.
“We were not only dealing with so many specimens, but also the sender of the specimen who may not be satisfied because the results took long [to receive],” she says. “It was chaotic... It was the most difficult experience in my life.”
Ida has been working at the laboratory for 13 years and says that when her career began, she and her colleagues could only examine bacteria and parasites. Since then, she has seen tremendous advances in diagnostics.
Most recently, in August 2022, Ida began using whole genome sequencing, a laboratory method that – by determining the DNA sequence of an organism’s genetic details – helps to fight disease and prepare for future health threats.
This work will be part of the government of Indonesia’s Biomedical and Genome Science Initiative, which coordinates next generation sequencing machines, biomedical projects and biobank facilities across Indonesia.
The plan for Indonesia’s Biomedical and Genome Science Initiative is to have 42 genome sequencing facilities across the country.
The genome sequencing method played an essential role in fighting COVID-19 in Indonesia and will be used to develop more accurate treatment and care to help fight other diseases including tuberculosis, cancer, metabolic diseases, genetic disorders and brain diseases.
Previously, Ida and her colleagues in Batam sent samples 1,100 kilometers away to a laboratory in Jakarta, and it would take weeks to get results.
But today, the whole process of preparing the sample, conducting the sequencing and doing the analysis can take as little as three days. This means people receive a diagnosis quickly and can access the treatment they need. It also means that disease outbreaks can be detected and responded to as early as possible.
The Global Fund has invested US$30 million in Indonesia’s Biomedical and Genome Science Initiative through its COVID-19 Response Mechanism.
The funds have been used to purchase new equipment and train staff in 17 laboratories to help ensure facilities across the country are able to harness this new technology.
In addition to strengthening diagnostic and treatment systems, the new laboratory technology in Indonesia is being used to inform decision-making and health policy.
Photos of colleagues decorate an office wall at the Center for Environmental Health Engineering and Disease Control in Batam.
Dr. Fairuza Laily from Batam’s Health Office says that genome sequencing helped officials during a wave of COVID-19 infections last year.
“At that time, we didn't know whether the omicron variant was similar to delta, or had mild symptoms,” says Dr. Laily.
Thanks to the new technology, staff were able to confirm the variant, which led to better treatment and supported the Batam Health Office to make effective policies in response.
“If we know the variant, we know its characteristics and we can predict what will happen to the patient, and how the case will develop,” she says. “In essence, we are using whole genome sequencing for policy-making.”
Back at the lab, Ida says that she wishes the technology had existed throughout the entire COVID-19 pandemic, but feels more confident in the laboratory’s ability to respond to health threats in the future.
“We will be ready to face the next pandemic… and with the existence of whole genome sequencing, we will be able to cover a wider range of diseases,” she says.
© 2026 The Global Fund
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