To fulfill his campaign promise of building healthy and quality human resources, a number of priority programs will be implemented after Prabowo and Gibran Rakabuming Raka are inaugurated as the President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia for 2024–2029.
One of those priority programs is the free medical check-up program.
Initially, the program aimed to prioritize people aged over 50 and those who had the potential to suffer from tuberculosis (TB).
However, the program was expanded to cover 52 million people across Indonesia, head of the Presidential Communications Office, Hasbi Hasan, said in a video released on BPJS Kesehatan's YouTube channel on September 25, 2024.
"The government will push for medical check-up(s)," he added.
In the first year of implementation, the new government will prepare hospitals and improve health services to support the program.
"In the first year in 2025, perhaps almost 30 new hospitals will be prepared. The capacity of first-level health services at Puskesmas (Community Health Centers) will also be seriously increased," he said.
Besides health screenings, which were pursued by the Health Ministry under President Joko Widodo's government, the program will include comprehensive blood pressure, blood sugar, uric acid, and other screenings to detect potential catastrophic diseases, Hassan informed.
Regular medical check-ups are considered necessary so that people can get to know the condition of their own health. They are also important to prevent non-communicable diseases and other catastrophic diseases.
The program will be implemented as part of the government's efforts to improve public health through preventive measures and to increase public awareness by promoting a healthy lifestyle.
"So, a healthy lifestyle will also be promoted by the next government so that they are not only surprised when they fall ill, but they can prevent the disease. So, that is also part of a very important program," he explained.
The planned budget allocation for the free medical check-up program is around Rp3.2 trillion, which will be sourced from the State Budget (APBN), according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
The medical check-ups of 52 million people will be conducted once or twice a year. "So, Indonesian people will be able to carry out routine medical check-ups once a year or twice a year," Hasan said.
Golden Indonesia 2045
The 2023 Indonesian Health Survey (SKI) conducted by the Ministry of Health found a high prevalence of hypertension and diabetes, which are the main risk factors for heart and blood vessel diseases.
Compared with the results of the Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) in 2018, the 2023 SKI showed a decline in the prevalence of hypertension.
However, the incidence of diabetes mellitus in the population aged 15 years and above increased from 2.0 percent to 2.2 percent. Further, the incidence of the disease increased from 1.5 percent to 1.7 percent for all age groups.
The increasing trend of diseases classified as catastrophic diseases must be addressed seriously by the government to achieve healthy and quality human resources.
Realizing healthy and quality human resources is one of the important priorities for President Prabowo's administration to realize a Golden Indonesia, in line with his vision of "Moving Forward Together Toward Golden Indonesia 2045," which he has often highlighted since the election.
To realize the vision, Prabowo and Gibran have devised eight missions called Astacita. One of the missions is to strengthen human resource development.
Referring to the mission, Prabowo said that quality national development lies in the welfare of its people.
Prabowo and Gibran believe that by making human resource development a top priority, Indonesia can build a strong foundation for future generations.
In view of this, they are committed to building quality human resources, including by implementing a number of initiatives in the health sector.
The free medical check-up program is considered important to improve the quality of public health with the help of preventive measures and by promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Further, Prabowo and Gibran will also accelerate the eradication of tuberculosis (TB) and make hospital construction a top priority to tackle health problems in Indonesia.
The new government will also promote the Free Nutritious Meals Program as one of the main priorities to ensure the quality of life of the Indonesian people.
Hopefully, by improving the quality of life of the people, the government can build high-quality human resources, which, in turn, can help make the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision a reality.
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Editor: Azis Kurmala
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