Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Taito-ku, Tokyo; President: Tsutomu Takahashi) will start a Proof of Concept (PoC) of Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. This PoC will be conducted in collaboration with the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia (BRIN) and Kanazawa University.

The aim of this PoC is to establish an infrastructure and data platform for WBE information. This will strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR)※1, highlighted by the global spread of COVID-19 infections, and contribute to the Universal Health Coverage (UHC)※2 solutions promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and various health sectors.

On August 28, 2023, a ceremony was held in Jakarta to commemorate the start of the PoC. The Terms of Reference (TOR) was signed with Drh. Harimurti Nuradji, Ph. D., Head of Research Center for Veterinary Science, BRIN, and Mr. Ryo Honda, Ph. D., Professor of Faculty of Geoscience and Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University. Together with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. and Kanazawa University have conducted an advanced study of this PoC in Denpasar, Bali, and is now working for further expansion. This time, we will start the PoC in the capital city of Jakarta, taking advantage of this knowledge and experience.

1 PPR: Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Respons

2 Universal Health Coverage (UHC): A state in which all people have access to basic health care services when they need them and at a cost they can afford

About the PoC

The PoC aims to establish an infrastructure and data platform for WBE information, and will be conducted in the capital city of Jakarta.

Implementation Details

1. Establishment of a standard protocol for WBE in Indonesia
2. Operational system for WBE and detection/analysis capacity development
3. Multifaceted Extension Feasibility Study of WBE
4. Conduct feasibility studies for commercialization, and study schemes and operation systems

PoC target area

Jakarta, Sewerage Covering Area Zone 0

Period

Scheduled for

August 2023 - July 2026

The project has been conducted in Denpasar, Bali, for about two years, and will be expanded in Bali from September of this year (area, frequency, target viruses). In the previous study, sampling methods suitable for the country and the applicability of various reagents were confirmed.