Minister Of Health Concerning Priority Of The Health Law: Returning The Function Of Regulators To The Government

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin (center) and West Manggarai Regent Edistasius Endi (right) at Komodo Labuan Bajo Hospital, NTT, today. (ANTARA-Fransiska M N)

Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government's priority in the Health Law is to improve access and quality of public health services and restore regulatory functions to the government.

"Through this Health Law, we want to make a drastic leap in order to learn from experience. Very high jump," said the Minister of Health in the FMB9 Dialogue on the Health Law followed virtually, Monday, July 17.

The Minister of Health said that the COVID-19 pandemic has made many parties aware of various health sector service problems around the world, including Indonesia.

This condition prompted global initiatives to make significant changes to the national health system in each country.

"There are two government priorities in the Health Law. First, we improve access and quality of public health services. Number two, we want to arrange regulations to restore the function of regulators to the government," he said, quoted by Antara.

A number of key programs contained in the Health Law, said the Minister of Health, are strengthening promotive and preventive programs in primary services, a measurable financing sector and focusing on work programs, as well as equitable and sufficient distribution of health human resources in all regions.

In the same event, Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the House of Representatives Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena said the Health Law changed the paradigm for health services in Indonesia, from what originally focused on curative efforts to promotive and preventive.

"Previously, we saw that Indonesians had to be sick before being treated, in this law we wanted to invite that the Indonesian people were made healthy and prevented from getting sick easily," he said.

For this reason, he continued, the energy of the health sector in terms of budget allocation is intended to make Indonesian people physically and mentally healthy.

In line with that, Health Policy Observer Prof. Amal C. Sjaaf said that the Health Law, which was passed on Tuesday, July 11, was the third time it had changed based on adjustments in the health environment.

"The latest law on health in 2009. Before that, the law was in 1992, it was far away. The first health law was in 1960 or five years after the first election," he said.

He considered that the portion of the health budget which was dominated by curative activities in the old Health Law was a deviant policy.

"The Presidential Regulation (Perpres) on the National Health System (SKN) has been explained that public health is the responsibility of the state, while individuals are financed by social insurance. But the implementation is not in accordance with what is written," he said.

According to the National Health Account report, said Amal, 60 percent of health financing is absorbed into curative programs, both by the public and the government.

"It is reversed, it should prevent healthy people from getting sick. This law returns there with the rules of its primary services to keep healthy people from getting sick," he said.