RI needs 30,000 more doctors: House

SUKABUMI: Lawmaker Ribka Tjiptaning from the House of Representatives Commission IX overseeing health said on Wednesday that the number of medical doctors in Indonesia is currently 40,000, well below the ideal number of 70,000.

“From our monitoring and research, there should be 70,000 doctors in Indonesia,” Ribka said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

She said that there was currently one doctor for every 3,400 people in Indonesia.

“In this condition, how can equal medical services for all be guaranteed? The consequence is that the poor do not get adequate medical services,” Ribka said.

She added that around 15,000 medical school graduates in Indonesia can neither work at hospitals nor go into private medical practices due to the difficulties in obtaining Indonesia Doctor Competency Test (UKDI) certificates. — JP