H

ealth Minister Nafsiah Mboi called on governors to help the ministry’s campaign to persuade more doctors and health workers to work in remote areas.

Nafsiah said that most health workers are currently deployed in major cities, a condition that hampered quality healthcare.

During a meeting in Surabaya, East Java, Nafsiah said that there was no shortage of physicians, as the national doctor-to-people ratio is 33/100,000, only slightly less than the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) of 40/100,000, or 1 general doctor for every 2,500 people, she said.

“It is their distribution that is a problem,” Nafsiah said.

Around 7,000 doctors graduate per year and the number of doctors who retire is only around 2,000 per year.

In some regions, the doctor-to-people ratio has shot up above the WHO standard.

In places like parts of Yogyakarta the doctor-to-people ratio stands at over 170/100,000. In Gunung Kidul, the ratio drops to 10/100,000.

In provinces like West Sulawesi the ratio is 8/100,000, East Nusa Tenggara 9/100,000, West Nusa Tenggara 12/100,000, and Maluku 13/100,000.

Governors of the less-disadvantaged provinces could play a significant role.

“The governor through local health agencies can take measures to better distribute health workers, removing them from major cities, and assigning them to other regencies within the province, that are lacking in health workers,”
Nafsiah said.

Nafsiah said that governors could play a significant role in the process.

“Governors actually have a strategic position to distribute the doctors, as stipulated in government regulation No. 38/2007 on the devolution of authority between central and local governments,” she said.

The ministry expects the demand for health services to rise after the implementation of the national healthcare system in January next year.

Separately, Health Ministry secretary-general Supriyantoro said that local administrations must play active roles in programs designed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

He said that the local governments could start by mapping the health problems and improving the capacities of health workers.

Supriyantoro said that most local governments lacked progress in improving maternal health, reducing child mortality, lowering fertility rates, improving access to clean water and reducing the annual parasite index for malaria.

East Java Governor Soekarwo said that his administration has set a good example of dealing with major health problems.

Soekarwo said that East Java had achieved the target set by the government in reducing the number of children with malnutrition, improving maternal health, reducing HIV/AIDS prevalence, as well as increasing the access to clean water.

“Two things that haven’t been achieved are reducing the child mortality rate and access to basic sanitation. We would intensify our efforts to achieve the target with the help of the community,” he said.