Minister Of Health: Preventing Health Transformation Of The Republic Of Indonesia To Become A Country With Many Diseases

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin/DOK of the Ministry of Health

Minister of Health Budi GUNadi Sadikin stated that the health transformation which is one of the government's focuses is to prevent Indonesia from becoming a country with many diseases.

"The current direction of health development is to focus on preventing the community from getting sick. This is done through health checks at health centers and posyandu, as well as community involvement in maintaining health," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, February 18.

The Minister of Health said prevention can reduce economic burdens rather than treatment, so that it can create the country's population with good quality of health. Even in terms of quality of life, prevention is much better than treatment.

In the transformation of health, one of the most accelerated efforts is the transformation of primary services. Where the government gradually continues to complement the facilities at the puskesmas, as well as revitalize the concept of primary service.

"It is preventive or called promotive preventive, not secondary service or referral. So we, including local governments, must maintain public health. That is the main task in the health sector, not to cure the sick," he said.

The Minister of Health stated that currently Indonesia only has 10 thousand puskesmas. The number cannot reach all people, so it requires more assistance from the poskesdes.

Therefore, the Ministry of Health stated that it would revitalize the concept of primary service, ranging from puskesmas services to health centers and polindes, to one unit called excellent posyandu.

In the future, primary health services will serve all ages, from infants to the elderly. That way, prevention efforts are made to all the ages of the Indonesian population," he said.

The Minister of Health and his staff began tracing remote areas that needed assistance to improve basic health care systems, such as in North Nias Regency, North Sumatra.

The district only has 11 health centers, eight of which are in remote locations and the rest are in very remote locations.

Therefore, together with the local government, in 2022 the Ministry of Health will determine the 11 health centers as inpatient health centers, so that they can maximize services due to distance between health centers, plus poor road conditions.

"Health development in Indonesia is not only carried out by the Ministry of Health. It takes the involvement of local governments and the community to make Indonesia a country with a healthy population," said Budi Gunadi Sadikin.