With our current pattern, no matter how many health workers we have, the number will never be enough.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked his ranks to prepare alternative patterns for health workers' distribution so that they are uniformly spread across Indonesia.

Minister for Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Azwar Anas conveyed this information after attending a limited meeting on the health bill with President Widodo at Jakarta Presidential Palace on Monday.

"At the meeting, we discussed issues related to the medical sector. For example, issues regarding the distribution of doctors and health workers," he said in Jakarta on Monday.

Anas informed that he was asked by the President to prepare a new pattern for health worker redistribution since the current pattern has not been able to fulfill the need for doctors and health workers.

"We are preparing options to accommodate the distribution. With our current pattern, no matter how many health workers we have, the number will never be enough," the minister said.

The government had actually prepared formations for health workers for remote areas, but the health workers returned to big cities after one to two years, he added.

"When the formation is prepared in Papua, Maluku, or other remote areas, the health workers usually move out after one or two years. That is why the number will never be enough," he said.

He emphasized that his ministry is preparing a pattern to support the uniform distribution of health workers in the country.

"President Jokowi hopes that health workers can be evenly distributed throughout Indonesia to serve the community and certain hospitals, not only in cities but also in remote areas," Anas said.

Besides redistribution issues, the minister disclosed that the current number of health workers is lower than required for the ideal ratio. According to him, so far, areas outside Java have experienced a shortage of general practitioners and specialists.

"We will take several affirmative steps, including the amendment to the Health Law later, but in the short term, our party is formulating how these health workers can be distributed evenly according to the staff recruited," he said.

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Translator: Rangga Pandu A J, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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