Eradicating health inequality in the Asia-Pacific region should be prioritized, Deputy Head of the House of Representatives’ (DPR’s) Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Board (BKSAP) Putu Supadma Rudana stated.

The rights to enjoy health standards was described within the human rights instrument at the international level, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) that has been ratified by Indonesia, he remarked.

“I have to underline that without a healthy population and citizens, we will not have a more advanced socio-economic development,” he remarked through a statement, Tuesday.

The effort to reduce and eliminate health inequality should be a priority agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific, he emphasized.

The health distribution target as stipulated within the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) necessitates strong resources, including adequate finance, he stated.

“However, COVID-19 has taught a lesson to us all that the parliament has to have a strong political will and commitment in handling various health hurdles,” he remarked.

According to Rudana, at the national level, each country should optimally mobilize its available resources to achieve health equality.

Every country has differing capacity and capability in improving its health system, including infrastructure, funding, and human resources, he noted.

“This condition can certainly affect individual access to primary health service,” he said.

“To this end, we have to bolster cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, including in trade and investment, and improve capacity in the health sector,” he remarked.

Indonesia will continue to advocate the global Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF), which is a multilateral financing mechanism dedicated to handling the financing gap for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR).

To support disease mitigation and prevention in Indonesia, the Healthy Indonesia Program, through Family Approach, has been implemented for a long time, he remarked.

“The program is expected to be able to improve the public’s access to health service,” he explained.

In improving the health system, Indonesia continues to reach comprehensive health coverage through the National Health Insurance (JKN), Rudana added.

He deemed that the program is designed to provide protection and health benefits for all citizens, including those living under poverty.

To this day, protection through JKN has reached more than 226 million members, or 84 percent of Indonesia’s total population, he said.

Source: Antara News