More Controlled, Cost Of Treatment For COVID-19 Patients Drops Drastically From IDR 6 Trillion To IDR 500 Billion

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government's efforts to deal with COVID-19 continue to show significant results in protecting the community from pandemic attacks. This is confirmed by data released by the Ministry of Finance regarding the use of the state budget.

It was stated that until April 15, 2022, the value of treating COVID-19 patients was IDR 500 billion. This figure represents the cost of care for about 7,100 patients spread throughout Indonesia.

The number itself decreased dramatically when compared to March 2021 which was recorded at Rp. 6.9 trillion for 99,000 COVID-19 patients.

"This is part of the expenditure on goods related to the handling of COVID-19 and now the figure has decreased as the omicron is under control," said Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani in the presentation of the APBN this middle of the week.

Positive signals that the pandemic is getting under control can also be seen from spending on various necessities, which continues to experience a downward trend.

"The Ministry of Health, for example, last year in March the expenditure reached Rp. 15.1 trillion to buy vaccines, patient claims, and also medicines. But this year, in the same period, it was only Rp. 2.4 trillion,” he said.

The state treasurer also emphasized that another factor that caused low spending in the health sector was that the government did not purchase vaccines during the first quarter of 2022.

"We don't buy vaccines because the existing stock is still sufficient for the beginning of the year," he said.

For information, the budget allocation for treating COVID-19 patients has been prepared in the National Economic Recovery (PEN) scheme for the health management cluster with an amount of Rp. 122.54 trillion.