Palace Responds Urges To Remove Minister Of Health

Minister of State Secretary (Mensesneg) Prasetyo Hadi/ANTARA/Genta Tenri Mawangi

The State Palace responded to the request of the professors of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (FKUI) who urged evaluation and the raising of a petition for the removal of the Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin from his position.

Minister of State Secretary (Mensesneg) Prasetyo Hadi stated that the government listens seriously to every aspiration from the public, especially the medical community.

"Doctors are individual or individual choices. They must provide input based on careful considerations," said Prasetyo Hadi as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 23.

Prasetyo, who is also the president's spokesman, said the government had received the input, both officially and information obtained through mass media reports. The input is being studied in depth to find the root of the problem and formulate the right solution.

"Because all parties must have good intentions. Doctor's professional association forums certainly want goodness for our health system," he said.

Regarding the policy of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) which is considered not in accordance with AstaCita, the vision of national development, Prasetyo emphasized the need for communication and joint evaluation.

He also mentioned that if there are records in the policy preparation process, it needs to be improved without disturbing public health services.

The pressure on Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin emerged after 121 FKUI professors sent a letter to President Prabowo Subianto highlighting the condition of the medical and health education system which was considered concerning.

They criticized the negative narrative of the medical profession as well as changes in the governance of medical collegium under the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) which is considered to threaten the independence and objectivity of professional institutions, and called for the importance of dialogue and partnership between institutions.

In addition, public pressure also came through an online petition demanding the removal of Minister of Health Budi from the Secretariat of the National Health Security Alliance since May 4, 2025.

The petition assesses that Minister of Health Budi's policy is not in favor of the people and health professionalism, including the unilateral termination of the PPDS program, the opening of the medical faculty without planning the distribution of human resources, to the promotion of private insurance and the use of influencers for public policy.

Minister of Health Budi responded to the criticism of the Professor of FKUI by stating that discomfort is a natural thing in the policy transformation process.

He acknowledged that the changes made by the Ministry of Health may shake the interests of certain parties, but it was emphasized that all policies were designed for the benefit of the wider community.

"The Ministry of Health only implements policies based on the interests of the community," said the Minister of Health, Saturday (17/5).

Budi Gunadi emphasized that although there are many stakeholders in the health sector, the Ministry of Health's main priority is to serve 280 million Indonesians.