"That is our main problem; are they still spread to the same regions?" he said during an online press conference.
He made this statement in responding to the last round of the presidential debate on Sunday, in which health issues were among the themes raised.
Adib said that mapping by region is needed to make the distribution of doctors more uniform in Indonesia.
"If we talk about the issue of doctors in Indonesia, it is not only about the production aspect but also the planning for the needs, particularly mapping based on health problems in each region," he said.
He highlighted that with a population of around 270 million, Indonesia needs 275,000 doctors based on the World Health Organization-prescribed doctor-patient ratio of 1:1,000.
If Indonesia's 107 medical schools produce 12,000 general practitioners per year, the nation would be able to fulfill its needs in five years, he added.
However, he said that what remains a problem is that the need for doctors is still not calculated based on region.
Adib pointed out that if the need for doctors is not calculated correctly, there will be an oversupply of doctors.
"If the doctors are centered in several regions, this can lead to problems because potential civil, legal, and ethical conflicts may emerge in the community, and the welfare of doctors could decline," he explained.
He said that the main issue in Indonesia is the uneven distribution of doctors, not their production.
"The problems behind the unequal distribution are limited facilities and infrastructure, limited medical equipment and medicines, and incentives and career paths," he said.
To this end, he said that government financing for medical education is crucial, and the quality of education must also be improved.
Adib noted that regional governments must take an active role in analyzing the need for medical personnel and health workers in their regions, in accordance with the governance and regulations of the national health system.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti, Raka Adji
Editor: Anton Santoso
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