"In this activity, we carry three themes to advance public health centers. There are 600 participants from puskesmas across Indonesia," Apkesmi Council Chairperson Trisna Setiawan said on Monday evening.
Apkesmi's 2nd national seminar and workshop is being held in Padang until October 27, 2022.
There are three focus areas for advancing public health centers—strengthening the implementation of regional public service agencies (BLUD), improving accreditation, and increasing the competence of puskesmas heads, Setiawan informed.
According to him, BLUD implementation needs to be encouraged in all puskesmas in Indonesia, as it aligns with the goals of the Ministry of Health.
"BLUD is a modern financial governance system and is based on the needs of puskesmas, meaning that with BLUD, puskesmas get flexibility in managing finances and operations," he explained.
In the BLUD system, when a public health center receives money or assistance from external parties, it can use it directly without the need to deposit it into the regional treasury.
"The regional treasury only receives proof of receipt. (The BLUD system) also facilitates using unspent funds for the following year. So, this helps the operation of the health centers," he said.
Only thirty percent of the 10,300 puskesmas in Indonesia have BLUD status, he revealed. Therefore, Apkesmi is committed to supporting the goal of all puskesmas applying the BLUD system.
While almost 95 percent of the total public health centers in Indonesia have been accredited, only about 3.5 percent have obtained a full accreditation score.
"Accreditation will keep being bolstered, so service quality of puskesmas can increase," Setiawan said.
Related news: Complete data on pregnant women for Jampersal: Ministry
Related news: Jakarta offers free checkup to curb acute kidney failure cases
Translator: Laila S, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
