T

he government is currently drafting a bill that will provide incentives to health workers willing to be stationed in remote regions, says Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih.

During a visit to the East Nusa Tenggara capital Kupang over the weekend, Endang said the bill on health workers was expected to resolve the problems surrounding the provision and distribution of health workers across Indonesia.

She added articles in the bill would rule on measures that could motivate physicians, specialists and other health workers to be willing to work in what she dubbed "difficult areas".

"The articles will, among others, regulate on the simplified process for health workers to continue their studies or become civil servants," Endang said as quoted by Antara.

"There will also be agreeable incentives for those working in remote and very remote regions.

"The central government will join hands with local administrations for the implementation *of the policy*," she added.

Endang said the provision and distribution of health workers had so far been regulated only under a Health Ministry regulation on the appointment of health workers, and not through proper legislation.

"The old regulation is based on proposals from regions, while the new law will address all the problems," she said, adding the endorsement of the bill would be the start of a long-term effort to improve the system of distribution and provision of health workers across the country.

Endang also said the government would in the meantime keep trying to send health workers to remote regions, though the numbers were still far from sufficient.

She said that within the next few months, 130 health workers would be sent out.

She added her ministry was also dispatching senior residents - medical doctors who have completed their specialist education - to fill vacant specialist positions in hospitals in remote regions.

"We will facilitate specialist education for doctors in regions so as to fill the vacant positions there," she said.

The uneven distribution of health workers, which has seen them abandoning outlying regions for the big cities, has for years been one of the major shortcomings of the country's health services.

The situation worsened when then health minister Siti Fadillah Supari revoked in 2004 a regulation stipulating that newly graduated doctors work in public health centers in remote areas.

Since then, many medical school graduates have opted to work at hospitals or clinics in big cities, to be eligible for a license to start their own clinics.

The Indonesian Internists Association (PAPDI) recently urged the government to reinstate the mandatory assignment in remote regions to help fill the shortage of doctors in many of those regions.

"Hospitals in many regions across the country have complained about the lack of doctors," said PAPDI chairman Aru W. Sudoyo.

"The reinstatement of the requirement would fill the gap between the supply and demand for doctors."

In a separate development, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro earlier announced a plan to increase the allowance for soldiers stationed along Indonesia's border areas.

He said the increase would be in the range of 50 to 100 percent of the soldiers' basic salaries.