Minister of Health: Bill Gates Supports Indonesia's Digital Health Transformation

JAKARTA - Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said the digital-based health transformation program in Indonesia received support from one of Microsoft's software makers, Bill Gates.

"The existing support includes strengthening primary services based on the use of the latest information technology and health technology", said Budi Gunadi Sadikin in a written statement quoted by ANTARA, Monday, September 26.

The support from business figures, investors, philanthropists, and writers from the United States was conveyed to Minister of Health Budi in the Bilateral Meeting agenda in the series of The 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 77) and the Global Fund Replenishment Conference in New York, United States, September 20, 2022.

The Minister of Health explained the six pillars of health transformation carried out by the Government of Indonesia to improve health services to the community.

The six pillars include the transformation of primary services, the transformation of hospital referral services, the transformation of the health resilience system, the transformation of the health financing system, health human resources, and the transformation of health technology related to information technology and biotechnology.

In the transformation of information technology, said Budi, the real action that is currently being carried out is the development of the PeduliLindungi application into a citizen health app that has been downloaded by more than 50 million users.

Currently, PeduliLindungi is equipped with the latest features, including a medical history by medical approval, including a history of domestic and foreign vaccines to facilitate use for foreign nationals.

Another development is the preparation of PeduliLindungi in 13 languages to improve the standard of health services. The development was tested at the G20 summit in Bali on September 15-16, 2022.

"In the future, PeduliLindungi will also be integrated with the personal SATUSEHAT platform", he said.

The integration of these services makes it easier for users to monitor health conditions through applications that contain digital medical records and get more efficient and transparent services with integrated health facilities.

Budi said various parties at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) are coordinating with the Indonesian Ministry of Health to support the achievement of targets in the health development sector in Indonesia.

During the meeting, Minister of Health Budi invited Bill Gates to visit Indonesia to see the various health development achievements that have been achieved.