Welfare Ministry to seek regional govt. commitment on health security

The Coordinating People’s Welfare Ministry says it will use the National Development Planning Consultation event to seek the regional governments' commitment on health security.

People's Welfare Ministry culture, tourism, youth affairs and sports
coordinating deputy Sugihartatmo, also duty officer for the minister's secretary, said Thursday that health security should be top priority for regional governments.

"We still find a wide-range of gaps among regions. Some already have good health security services while others have not secured it. We will use the event to aggregate regional leaders' aspirations and challenge health security," he added.

He said the event was the right occasion to arrange steps on people welfare's improvement, "Especially a better service for the poor people in regions," he said. More than 500 regional leaders attended this annual event in Jakarta.

Health security for low-income people was one of the ministry's programs. "We target on the creation of cheap houses and cheap transportation services for low-income people. We also expect that all people, including the poor, can have better access to health security," he said.

Regional governments and social welfare-related ministries were the ministry's main partners, he said. (lfr)