The Health Ministry has asked the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) to analyze the trend of Indonesian people seeking medical treatment abroad.

“Why do so many Indonesians have medical treatment abroad? Some 1 million Indonesians have medical treatment abroad and spend US$11.5 billion (Rp165 trillion), annually,” Director General of Health Services at the Health Ministry Abdul Kadir said while addressing the first pre-conference of the IDI executive board, held virtually on Thursday.

He further said he has asked the IDI executive board to analyze the trend at the 31st conference, scheduled for March 22–March 25, 2022, in Aceh.

“As a matter of fact, some of the doctors in Malaysia and Singapore graduated from Indonesian universities, including UI, UNPAD, and UGM,” he pointed out.

The ratio of hospital beds to the population has remained at 1.18 in Indonesia, he noted. Meanwhile, the average ratio per 1,000 citizens to hospital beds in Asia is 3.3, he said.

“This means that the opportunities to build hospitals in Indonesia are still very large. Unfortunately, our hospitals are concentrated in large cities. Meanwhile, regions such as Maluku, Papua, and Kalimantan still lack a lot of hospitals,” he observed.

He said Government Regulation No. 47 of 2016 on Health Service Facilities and Job Creation Law or Law No. 11 of 2020 on Job Creation have provided a mandate to all foreign investors to build hospitals in Indonesia with 100-percent ownership.

“Don’t be surprised if Indonesia now becomes a center of foreign investors’ attention to build hospitals in the country. Hospitals will flourish like mushrooms in Indonesia. This year, three Japanese hospitals will invest in Indonesia,” he informed.

Source: Antara News