JAKARTA - Physiotherapy plays a very essential role in restoring and optimizing human body movement functions, ranging from post-injury rehabilitation stages to the treatment of degenerative conditions. Along with lifestyle changes and increasing awareness of the importance of overall health quality, the need for evidence-based movement recovery services is becoming increasingly crucial.
In order to ensure that this service touches all layers of society, the latest health regulations have even required the placement of physiotherapists at every Community Health Center (Puskesmas). However, the fulfillment of this basic service is currently facing a serious challenge in the field.
Chairman of the Indonesian Physiotherapy Association (IFI), Parmono Dwi Putro, Ftr., M.M, stated that the national health sector is currently experiencing a crisis in the availability of physiotherapists to reach 26,000 people. As well as, the presence of physiotherapists in the Puskesmas is crucial because health services today are not only focused on treatment, but also prevention, function recovery, and improvement of people's quality of life. Thus, Physiotherapists play an important role in dealing with movement disorders from the primary health service level.
The crucial question is one of the main focuses discussed in the IFI 2026 National Congress (KONAS) and the Indonesian Physiotherapy Annual Scientific Meeting (TITAFI) XXXVIII which is currently taking place on June 11-13, 2026 at the Harris Hotel, Malang, East Java.
Event Director TITAFI XXXVIII and KONAS IFI 2026, Yohanes Deo, S.Ft., Physio., S.H., M.HKes., M.Kes, explained that the number of deficiencies refers to the regulation data on financing presented by BPJS Kesehatan. This surge in demand occurs in conjunction with strict rules requiring the placement of at least one physiotherapist at each community health center (Puskesmas) throughout Indonesia.
"Actually, in terms of regulations, there are already rules regarding the acceptance of physiotherapy at the Community Health Center, it is mandatory. Meanwhile, there are 12,000 something Puskesmas in Indonesia, so it must be fulfilled. So now the organization encourages the campus to at least produce the newest physiotherapists according to the required competencies," said Yohanes when interviewed at the event location, Friday, June 12.
Yohanes said that the fulfillment of the gap of tens of thousands of health workers in the movement system is estimated to take a transition time of around 10 to 15 years in the future. Therefore, IFI continues to encourage universities to produce physiotherapist graduates who are competent and ready to answer the needs of public health services.
In addition to pursuing quantity, this annual scientific forum is deliberately designed to revolutionize the clinical service paradigm from conventional methods to a modern science-based approach (evidence-based). Through this improvement in academic and clinical skills, practitioners are expected to be able to integrate the latest medical technology in patient care.
"So the goal of TITAFI is the first to bridge evidence. So the academic and clinical abilities of the participants will increase. Because currently the approach to treating patients is not, it should not be conventional. So the approach can be with technology, can be with new techniques, and in events like this is an event that will later realize the goal," he said.
The committee confirmed that this national-scale conference managed to absorb the presence of up to 1,000 participants from various regions, including from Banda Aceh, Sulawesi, to Papua. Malang City was deliberately chosen as the host because it was considered to have a strategic and representative location for participants both within and outside the island of Java.
"Because Malang is a representative place, yes, because participants from all over Java can access here and even from Banda Aceh, from Papua, from Sulawesi, which is far away, dare to pay the fare, but want to ease the steps to attend activities at this time," said Yohanes.
In the long-term plan, IFI is committed to continue improving the grade of materials and the quality of speakers in every annual scientific event organized by the organization. This step is taken as part of the profession's strategy to expand the scale of standardization of competence to the ASEAN, Asian, and international levels.
In order to synchronize the service regulation framework, the committee is also committed to strengthening strategic partnerships with the relevant ministries and the management of BPJS Kesehatan in the future. This cross-sectoral synergy is considered crucial so that the public can access physiotherapy services evenly, both at basic and advanced health facilities.
"Indeed, TITAFI is a routine agenda of the organization every year. It will be different every year because we will raise the grade, starting from the material and the presenter who will provide information related to evidence, novelty, related to the science of physiotherapy so yes," concluded Yohanes.
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