Indonesia to deepen health reform as citizens prefer overseas treatment

Jakarta [Indonesia], December 7: Indonesia revealed Wednesday that it had been pushing for health reform to improve its healthcare facilities and hospitality.
Indonesian Vice Minister of Health Dante SaksonoHarbuwono said in a media discussion held virtually that the reform was expected to reduce the number of Indonesian citizens seeking overseas medical treatment.
This follows a report revealed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo a couple weeks ago that every year, no less than 2 million Indonesian citizens go abroad for medical treatment, mostly to Malaysia and Singapore, which caused the country to lose around 11.5 billion U.S. dollars in foreign exchange per year.
The efforts for the health reform, Harbuwono said, included creating more specific polyclinic schemes based on what many patients need.
"Such a scheme will make it easier for patients to find suitable treatment for their illness," Harbuwono said, adding that the government would also ensure a more even distribution of specialty doctors across regions.
As part of the efforts, Harbuwono said Indonesia was also formulating more advanced digital healthcare system, including developing platforms, that can make it easier for healthcare workers to input and integrate patients' data and for patients to access medical services faster.
The government would also be more active in conducting early detections to patients or individuals who had high-risk to severe diseases, such as cancer and kidney failures, so that the patients could be given early treatment.
Source: Xinhua