…it will take at least 10 years -- or even more -- to catch up with the minimal number of doctors to fulfill WHO standards to serve 270 million Indonesian people.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Health Ministry has launched an Education Assistance Program (PBP) for doctors and dentists to expedite efforts to ensure the uniform distribution of specialist health workers at health care facilities across Indonesia.

Heart disease is the most common ailment in Indonesia, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin noted at a virtual press conference on Thursday.

“Still, there are many provinces which cannot provide cardiac treatment. Hence, if any treatment is required, the patients must be brought to other provinces (where such treatment is available)," he added.

The availability of specialist doctors, especially for chronic diseases, at health facilities throughout Indonesia is disproportionate since many of them work in big cities, he noted.

Hence, he said his ministry is targeting to ensure all provincial health facilities can provide treatment for heart disease by 2024.

Furthermore, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the ratio of doctors to citizens in developed countries is 3–5 doctors per 1,000 people.

Going by this ratio, Indonesia currently lacks about 130 thousand doctors, the minister said.

"There are only 12 thousand graduated doctors in a year, thus it will take at least 10 years -- or even more -- to catch up with the minimal number of doctors to fulfill WHO standards to serve 270 million Indonesian people," he pointed out.

Related news: Ministry seeks to add 5,000 graduate doctors per year

Thus, to boost the strength of health workers quickly, the Health Ministry is collaborating with the Finance Ministry to offer the PBP for doctors and dentists.

In addition, the Health Ministry is cooperating with the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry to provide Tuition Fee Assistance, which can be obtained through the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) program.

Sadikin said that the educational assistance is among the efforts initiated to implement the fifth pillar of the health system transformation, namely the transformation of health human resources to expedite the equitable distribution of medical workers across Indonesia.

Registrations for the scholarship will be open from June 6–26, 2022, and can be accessed through the website bandikdok.kemkes.go.id.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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