We need to implement the universal health care program by providing accessible health services to all peopleJakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy emphasized the importance of transforming the health sector in order to gain optimal benefits from a demographic bonus in the hopes of making Indonesia a developed country.
"Transformation in the health sector (is required) to make the most of the demographic bonus and gain optimal benefits from it. The health sector constitutes one of the most important sectors," he remarked at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, on Friday.
Effendy noted that Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had proposed several measures to President Joko Widodo for optimizing programs aimed at transforming the health sector.
According to Effendy, the health minister had laid emphasis on the importance of investing significant efforts to protect people from diseases and provide them with equitable access to health services.
"We need to implement the universal health care program by providing accessible health services to all people," Effendy stated.
He remarked that the health minister had also formulated long-term strategies to realize transformation in the health sector, including the one related to efforts to suppress the fatality rate of specific diseases, such as cancers and stroke, while preventing people from suffering from such ailments in the first place.
Meanwhile, on the same occasion, Health Minister Sadikin affirmed that efforts to prevent diseases are essential to implement Law No. 17 of 2023 concerning health.
"We will soon enter the peak of the demographic bonus, so we need to ensure that our people are healthy and smart in the hopes of seizing the opportunity to transform into a developed country in accordance with the Golden Indonesia vision," he remarked on Friday.
To expedite the realization of health sector transformation, he highlighted that the government is also boosting the capabilities of community health centers, integrated health posts, and other providers of health services, so they can inform people about ways to avoid diseases.
The government seeks to encourage people to routinely conduct health assessments as an initial effort to prevent chronic diseases, including stroke, cardiac problems, and cancers, he stated.
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Translator: Indra A, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Sri Haryati
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