Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin invited the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) to strengthen collaboration to face the challenges of communicable and non-communicable diseases in the country.

“This pandemic has taught us to collaborate. This is essential because the government cannot stand alone. We need a joint movement of all components of the nation, including IDI,” the minister noted in a written statement here on Tuesday.

Sadikin remarked that the 72nd anniversary of IDI should become a momentum to boost synergy and collaboration in handling various health problems in Indonesia.

Amid the efforts to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, other health problems also emerged, such as acute hepatitis, monkeypox, and the recent health concern being, acute kidney injury in children, he remarked.

According to him, despite challenges in the health sector, Indonesia is able to handle them with its social capital and robust health system.

“The Ministry of Health is conducting national health transformation, with focus on six pillars, specifically the transformation of primary services, referral services, health resilience system, health financing system, health human resources, and transformation of health technology,” he expounded.

The transformation is aimed at strengthening the national health system to have a higher quality and be more equally distributed in serving the community across the country.

To realize it, the minister emphasized the need for support from all components of the country.

“The pandemic has shown the fragility of the national health system. Hence, it needs to be reformed,” he remarked.

Head of IDI Adib Khumaidi stated at the IDI anniversary’s main commemoration event in Bandung, West Java, on Monday that the association is ready to support the government in handling health problems in the country.

“IDI takes part in making health transformation a success for a strong and tough health system in facing the current and future health problems,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News