JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the House of Representatives Charles Honoris assessed that the communication between Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin needed to be corrected following various controversial statements and polemics of his policies which were highlighted by the public.
According to him, efforts to transform the health sector that is being carried out by the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) should be accompanied by good public communication.
"We certainly hope that all public officials including the Minister of Health can be more careful in issuing statements," said Charles Honoris, Monday, May 26.
Minister of Health Budi Sadikin is in the spotlight due to his statement which is considered less sensitive and demeans certain groups. As stated by the Minister of Health, which linked one's income to a level of health and intelligence that is considered to corner low-income groups.
Another controversy arises from a statement by the Minister of Health that alludes to health standards based on the size of the waist circumference, and likens it to the size of men's jeans. According to Budi, men with pants sizes above 33 are already in the category of obesity, and are said to have a higher risk of death.
Charles assessed that Commission IX of the DPR had been receiving reports that the Ministry of Health was making various breakthroughs towards Indonesia's health transformation. However, he requested that these breakthroughs be accompanied by good communication so as not to cause a commotion.
"In giving an assessment of the Minister of Health, we will see what the results of his work are like. So far, what has been reported to us in Commission IX, Mr. Minister of Health, Ministry of Health, is currently trying to transform the health sector," said Charles.
The chairman of the House of Representatives Health Commission assessed that good policies if not accompanied by good public communication could cause problems. Charles asked the Minister of Health to pay attention to the matter.
"And our hope is that this transformation of the health sector can run well without any noise. So yes, our evaluation of the Minister of Health must be more careful in issuing statements so as to prevent noise in the community," he added.
Not only received public attention, various parties in the health community also urged that Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin be removed in the aftermath of his policies that caused polemics. Such as the professor of the Faculty of Medicine, Padjadjaran University (FK Unpad) who asked President Prabowo Subianto to evaluate the performance of Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
The reason is that the Minister of Health is considered to have unilaterally taken over the formation of a new collegium 'government version', which is no longer under professional organizations, but Indonesian Health Consils (KKI).
The Ministry of Health is said to have acted beyond the authority as a state official focused on health. This is considered clear after the birth of Law no. 17 of 2023.
The health collegium was later criticized because it was considered no longer independent and was said to have been taken over by the Indonesian Ministry of Health. Kolegium itself is a scientific body that sets educational standards and competencies for specialist doctors, consisting of professional experts and professors.
The function of collegium is to maintain scientific dignity with the aim of maintaining the quality of doctors and health services. In its implementation, organizations and professors assess that collegium has lost its independence because its membership is voting or appointed directly by the Ministry of Health. In fact, the election should have been carried out based on the congress that has been agreed upon by the organization.
Charles hopes that the Minister of Health can communicate each of his policies well to relevant stakeholders. He also stated that the DPR would respect whatever the results of the Constitutional Court (MK) decision regarding the ongoing legal process regarding this collegium.
"Yes, the legal process is ongoing, we just follow it. We as lawmakers have certainly carried out our authority as much as possible," Charles explained.
"But we'll just have to wait for the results of the decision from the Constitutional Court. What is certain is that whatever the results of the decision are, we will respect the decision from the Constitutional Court," he continued.
In addition to Professor of FK Unpad, a wave of protests against Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin also came from the University of Indonesia (UI), Padjajaran University (Unpad), Solo State University (UNS), Airlangga University, and from the Indonesian Medical Education Institute Association (AIPKI).
At the UI Faculty of Medicine, more than 100 professors expressed concern over a number of new policies of the Ministry of Health. Not only about collegium, but also regarding the policy of separating academic functions from educational hospitals, as well as restructuring with educational institutions after the establishment of the Main Education Hospital.
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Not to mention that Minister of Health Budi also plans to allow general practitioners, especially in disadvantaged, frontier and outermost areas, to be trained to carry out fault surgery and be given the legal rules. This discourse caused a lot of criticism. Minister of Health Budi also once suggested that dentists be allowed to practice at the puskesmas even though recently the statement was corrected.
Professor of FK UI said there are several government regulations that have the potential to reduce the education quality of specialist doctors and doctors. This is said to have a direct impact on the quality of public health services.
Therefore, Charles again reminded the importance of good public communication. Including the Minister of Health's communication to the medical profession.
"I really hope that the Minister of Health can open communication with the medical profession. It can explain the desire, can explain the good intentions of what is being done," said Charles.
"Because the good intentions, if it can't be communicated properly, the results will definitely not be effective," he said.
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