Ministry Of Health Cooperates With Starlink, Provides Internet Access For Health Centers In Remote Areas

The Ministry of Health's collaboration with Starlink (photo: dock. Ministry of Health)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) is collaborating with Starlink, a satellite-based telecommunications service, to provide fast internet access to all health centers in remote areas, borders, and islands (DTPK).

The signing of this collaboration was carried out through a Starlink trial at the Sumerta Kelod Assistant Health Center (Pustu), Denpasar, which is also the location for the inauguration of cooperation, and Pustu Bungbungan, Klungkung, which has limited internet access.

The Ministry of Health hopes that the presence of this Starlink satellite can improve the quality of health services throughout Indonesia, which so far has geographical challenges and cannot be reached by fiber cables.

"Of the 10,000 health centers in Indonesia, around 745 do not have internet access at all and 1,475 have limited internet access. All of them are spread over 7,000 islands in Indonesia," said Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin, quoted Monday, May 20.

Budi also hopes that all puskesmas can access the appropriate internet so that the service will not be different from the Puskesmas in urban areas.

Because, according to Minister of Health Budi, this reliable internet network will facilitate access to communication between health services in each region, so that real-time reporting and health facilities can be provided.

Tidak lupa, kerja sama ini juga menjadi bentuk dukungan dalam mewujudkan agenda transformasi digital di sektor layanan kesehatan di Indonesia.

This trial is also intended to determine the recording of immunization data, non-communicable disease screening (PTM), or digital toddler weighing by health workers through the Indonesian Ku Health Application (ASIK).

I am very excited to bring internet connectivity to places where internet connectivity is low. The internet is like saving lives because with the internet we can learn a lot," said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.