Minister Of Health: Pandemic Teaches Budget Duplication Can Be Efficient

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin/DOK Ministry of Health

JAKARTA - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the COVID-19 pandemic had taught that budget duplication in the health sector could be streamlined.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that there is a lot of duplication of budgets that should be streamlined," said Budi Gunadi Sadikin at a press conference on the Financial Note & the 2023 State Budget Bill as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, August 16.

During the pandemic, Budi said, the government could keep routine health budget spending undisturbed. This is due to the synergy of health finance between the central and regional governments.

The Ministry of Health's budget in 2021 will reach Rp. 98 trillion. Absorption in 2022 can be reduced to IDR 88 trillion.

"Because there is a budget that is used for vaccination, but there is still a lot of budget that can be streamlined if it is synergized with the budget in the Regional Government," he said.

According to the Minister of Health, local governments have provisions for the allocation of health funds of 10 percent of the total APBD. "So, if for example (the total) APBD budget is Rp. 1,400 trillion, there is Rp. 140 trillion, we can synergize it," he said.

The Minister of Health said the government had decided to increase the allocation of the health budget, from Rp. 113 trillion to Rp. 300 trillion.

He considered the budget increase to be extraordinarily high, although it was still relatively below other countries.

"I see this as Indonesia's success," he said.

According to the Minister of Health, the increase in the budget plays a very important role in Indonesia's success in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, according to the release of Johns Hopkins University data regarding the handling of the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia is ranked as one of the five best countries in the world in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.