Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Of the total 2,414 hospitals in Indonesia, only 121 are internationally accredited, stated Director General of Health Development at the Ministry of Health Prof. Dr Akmal Taher.

"Accreditation is necessary to ensure the quality of hospital services with regard to the patients safety," Akmal affirmed here, Monday.

According to Akmal, the number of accredited hospitals is very small as compared to the total number of hospitals in Indonesia.

He noted that government accreditation granted to a hospital is an acknowledgement of its quality standards.

The accreditation is aimed to improve the quality of health services offered to the community as mandated by Law Number 44/2009 on hospitals, according to which accreditation must be done at least every three years.

"By improving the quality of health services, it is expected that people will not have to go overseas to have the required medical treatment," Akmal noted.

Executive Chairperson of the Indonesian Commission for Hospital Accreditation (KARS) Dr Sutoto remarked that there are about 1.4 thousand accredited hospitals in Indonesia.

"We are educating the management of hospitals regarding the importance of accreditation" he added.

He stated that KARS has been awarded by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua), a reliable independent institution, which helps hospitals improve their quality and safety standards for the patients in Indonesia.

"With this acknowledgement from ISQua, KARS has become a world-class accreditation agency," Sutoto noted.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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