Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s Health Ministry plans to expand the Chronic Illness Control Program (Prolanis) to companies and workplaces to improve access to long-term disease management for employees, a senior official said on Monday.

The program, initiated by the national health insurer BPJS Kesehatan, has largely served people aged 40 and above, though many younger Indonesians also live with chronic conditions, said Siti Nadia Tarmizi, the ministry’s director for Non-communicable Disease Prevention and Control.

She said about 65 million Indonesians have hypertension and 30 million have diabetes, creating a heavy burden on healthcare costs.

The figures underscore the urgency of strengthening early detection and disease control, particularly through primary healthcare services, she added.

“The first step is reinforcing promotive and preventive efforts through free health checkups. What needs to change first is the public mindset — people usually go to health facilities only after falling ill,” Tarmizi said.

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One of the main challenges for Prolanis, she noted, is ensuring participants return for regular follow-up visits. Because the sessions are typically held during working hours, many employees cannot attend.

To address this, the government is drafting policies to extend Prolanis into workplaces. Currently, there are no regulations requiring companies to collaborate with primary healthcare centers for regular employee checkups or monitoring of workers with chronic conditions.

“That is what we are currently developing,” Tarmizi said.

She also emphasized the need for an effective reminder system to encourage consistent participation in Prolanis activities.

“We are not just talking about reducing costs for the National Health Insurance (BPJS Kesehatan), but also about making Indonesians healthier,” she said.

“We should first focus on managing two major conditions — diabetes mellitus and hypertension,” she added.

The ministry hopes that expanding Prolanis into corporate environments will improve health monitoring, reduce absenteeism, and lower national healthcare costs over time.

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