"The government is granting scholarships for those who pursue specialist."Kuta, Bali (ANTARA News) - Deputy Minister of Health Ali Gufron Mukti said Indonesia needs more oral and maxillofacial surgeons as there are only 285 of them in the nation with over 240 million people.
"That figure is still little that the government keeps trying to increase them," Deputy Minister said after his opening remarks on The 10th Asian Congress of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (ACOMS) in Kuta, Badung, Bali, Friday.
Mukti said the ideal number of oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the country was around 1,000 to treat people with harelip and diseases, injuries and defects in the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral (mouth) and maxillofacial (jaws and face) region.
"To increase the oral and maxilllofacial surgeons, the government is granting scholarships for those who pursue specialist or diploma program," Mukti said in front representatives of 33 countries in the international congress.
The replenishment of oral and maxillofacial surgeons is necessary along with the community health insurance program (Jamkesmas) and the establishment of the Social Security Providers (BPJS). Thus, people with oral and maxillofacial problems would then received free treatment from the government.
Since 1986, there have been around 3,000 people underwent oral and maxillofacial surgery in East Nusa Tenggara.
The government has set a target to yield 3,400 specialist doctors in 2014. "They would comprise not only oral and maxillofacial specialists but also in other specialties," Mukti said.
(Uu.A059/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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