Minister Indrawati remarked that although the budget sloped as compared to the previous years, it was considered to be a high budget, as it did not include any budget for COVID-19.
“Health budget during COVID-19 increased up to Rp312 trillion (around US$20.1 billion). Now, it is at Rp183.2 trillion,” Indrawati remarked during the 2023 State Budget Performance and Realization press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday (Jan 2).
“The difference between (now and during) the COVID-19 pandemic is that some of the budget was allocated for expenditure regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, without COVID-19, the health expenditure is much higher,” she pointed out.
Based on data from the Ministry of Finance, realization of the health budget reached Rp113.6 trillion (around US$7.3 billion) in 2019 before the pandemic struck.
In 2020, the realization had increased to Rp172.3 trillion (around US$11.1 billion) on account of the pandemic, with Rp52.4 trillion (around US$3.4 billion) allocated for COVID-19 treatment and Rp119.9 trillion (around US$7.7 billion) for other health budgets.
In 2021, the health budget for COVID-19 was bigger than that for other health budgets, amounting to Rp188 trillion (around US$12.1 billion) and Rp124.4 trillion (around US$8 billion) for respective aspects.
The COVID-19 budget was still allocated in 2022, amounting to Rp53.3 trillion (around US$3.4 billion), whereas other health budgets were worth Rp134.8 trillion (around US$8.7 billion).
In 2023, realization of the health budget did not include an allocation for COVID-19.
In detail, the 2023 health budget allocated through ministries/institutions (K/L) reached Rp109.5 trillion (around US$7 billion), the non-K/L budget reached Rp10.3 trillion (around US$665 million), and the Transfer to Regions (TKD) reached Rp63.4 trillion (around US$5 billion).
Expenditure through K/L is used for National Health Insurance Program Beneficiaries (PBI JKN), amounting to Rp46.3 trillion (around US$3 billion), and assigning 5,754 health workers to underdeveloped regions, amounting to Rp27.6 trillion (around US$1.7 billion).
It is also allocated for cosmetics and drug sample inspection, amounting to Rp33.9 billion (around US$2.1 million), and the procurement of contraceptive devices and drugs in 19,606 institutions, amounting to Rp520.4 billion (around US$33.6 million).
Non-K/L expenditure was channeled for the health insurance of civil servants, military, and police amounting to Rp10.3 trillion (around US$664 million).
Through TKD, Rp15.6 trillion (around US$1 billion) had been allocated for Health Operational Assistance (BOK) and Family Planning Operational Assistance (BOKB), Rp12.4 trillion (around US$800 million) for Physical Health Allocation Fund, as well as General Allocation Fund (DAU) and Revenue Sharing Fund (DBH) with specified usage, amounting to Rp26 trillion (around US$1.6 billion).
The Ministry of Finance also allocates funds for accelerating the reduction of stunting through K/L that are directed towards providing supplementary food for 40 thousand pregnant women with chronic energy deficiency, with funding amounting to Rp44.8 billion (around US$2.9 million) and Rp20.3 billion (around US$1.3 million) for 138.9 million undernourished toddlers.
Furthermore, the budget facilitated training for 7.7 families with toddlers below the age of two amounting to Rp40.6 billion (around US$2.6 million), micro-nutrient supplementation for toddlers totaling Rp13.1 billion (around US$845 thousand), and routine immunizations amounting to Rp944.8 billion (around US$60.9 million).
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Translator: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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