ADB Disbursed A USD 650 Million Loan To Build Indonesian Health Facilities

US dollar (Photo: dock unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an investment loan of US$650 million to improve and improve primary health care facilities and public health laboratories throughout Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the improvement of these health facilities aims to improve prevention, detection, and treatment of infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, and other health conditions.

Director of Human and Social Development (Human and Social Development Director) ADB Karin Schelzig conveyed that the project to improve and strengthen primary health care and public health laboratories (plus/primary healthcare and public health laboratory upgrading and strengthing) directly supports two government projects under the agenda of Indonesia's health transformation.

The two projects are strengthening primary health care in Indonesia (sophi/strengthening of primary healthcare in Indonesia) and strengthening the public health laboratory system in Indonesia (inpuls/indonesia-public health laboratory system registration).

"This is the third of a series of ADB supports for the Indonesian Government in developing and implementing the post-pandemic Indonesian Health Transformation Agenda," Karin said in her official statement, Thursday, December 14.

According to Karin, the project is very important because it has a total investment of nearly 4 billion US dollars and is financed together with three other multilateral development banks, namely the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and the World Bank.

Meanwhile, these various projects will address a number of gaps and critical disparities in the readiness of primary health care facilities, public health laboratories, and referral hospitals in Indonesia in an effort to achieve universal access to quality health services, as well as increase the resilience and strengthening of the health system.

In addition, the PLUS project will be equipped with more than 10,000 primary health care facilities and more than 500 public health laboratories throughout Indonesia so that it can truly meet the minimum service standards set by the government.

"This support will include equipment procurement, delivery, installation, training for users, operating and maintenance services (O&M), as well as capacity building in O&M," he explained.

Meanwhile, Director of ADB for Indonesia Jiro Tominaga said the investment would be the foundation for standardization of primary health care services and reducing the gap in access to standard services, especially for poor groups, rural residents, and in remote areas.

"ADB is pleased to be collaborating with the government to overcome this critical gap," he explained.

Jiro assessed that this project will contribute significantly to climate change mitigation in the health sector through improving facilities with energy-efficient equipment.

Strengthening the public health laboratory network will also strengthen resilience and health preparedness to tackle the threat of a pandemic in the future, including those related to climate change.