Mentawai Islands' geographic conditions pose a challenge for stakeholders in devising policies regarding access to healthcare services through the JKN programme for Mentawai Islands residentsJakarta (ANTARA) - State-run Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan/Health) has intensified collaboration with customary communities to expand healthcare access for more residents.
"We have collaborated with a customary community, the Sikerei community of Mentawai Islands (in West Sumatra), since 2020," Head of the Padang branch of BPJS Health Office Yessy Rahimi noted, as per a press statement received here, Wednesday.
The Sikerei are traditional physicians in Mentawai Islands designated as national healthcare insurance (JKN) programme ambassadors to disseminate information on the programme to locals, she remarked.
The office head pointed out that some villages in Mentawai Islands, the outermost islands in West Sumatra, are located within the forest with no road access, which poses a challenge to provide healthcare services.
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"Mentawai Islands' geographic conditions pose a challenge for stakeholders in devising policies regarding access to healthcare services through the JKN programme for Mentawai Islands residents," Rahimi stated.
She remarked that as of August 2022, some 88,900 residents of Mentawai Islands, out of the total population of 91,694, had been registered in the JKN programme.
Moreover, the region currently has 17 primary healthcare facilities, including the Sarereiket public health centre established in 2019, which participants of the healthcare programme could access, she added.
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"We are also thankful that the Sarereiket public health centre, developed through collaboration among stakeholders, could facilitate Mentawai Islands' residents in accessing health services, particularly residents in the South Siberut region," Rahimi remarked.
Meanwhile, Sarereiket public health centre head, Malaikat, said that residents enrolled in the JKN programme could access health services free of charge at the health centre, provided they produced their personal identification card, or the JKN card, during the registration.
"Residents no longer need to seek medical care at the distant Muara Siberut or Tuapeijat Regional General Hospital. Moreover, residents currently have more choices to seek medical service, as earlier, their only choice was through the Sikerei, though now, they could visit the Sarereiket public health centre," Malaikat remarked.
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Translator: Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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