A group of educators and health experts from the Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo-Jusuf Kalla presidential campaign team emphasized the candidate pair'€™s vision of prioritizing the guarantee of healthcare and education on a national scale.

Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan said that focusing on education and health policies would contribute to the strengthening of the economy and defense.

Education and health are at the heart of promises delivered by both the Jokowi-Kalla ticket and rivals Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa.

'€œJokowi is pushing for a very basic shift in focus, in which the education and health care of people become the responsibility of the nation'€™s leader, not just ministers,'€ Anies said.

Speaking as part of a televised discussion broadcast by Metro TV on Thursday evening, Anies added that one of the ways the Jokowi-Kalla ticket was showing its commitment to the two sectors was by promising to implement the Indonesian Health Card (KIS) and Indonesian Smart Card (KIP).

The KIS would be similar to the existing Jakarta Health Card (KJS), which was implemented by Jokowi as Jakarta governor, and would provide free health insurance for the poor.

Meanwhile, the KIP would be an education-allowance program that would guarantee 12 years of free education and provide for students'€™ educational needs.

The card would be similar to the existing Jakarta Smart Card (KJP).

Furthermore, the new KIP would also guarantee free higher education for poor students who passed the university entrance exams.

'€œWhy must there be a card? ['€¦] Well, this card would be proof that '€˜I have a right to be there'€™ '€” a right to be educated or to be treated. Education programs can be replicated but Jokowi-JK [Jusuf Kalla] are thinking from the perspective of the masses,'€ Anies said.

Rieke Diah Pitaloka, another member of the Jokowi-Kalla campaign team, emphasized that the KIS would not clash with the existing national health insurance (JKN) and would also be managed by the Social Security Management Agency (BPJS).

However, she said that what would change would be the definition of '€˜the poor'€™, so that more people could be registered for free health insurance.

Currently, around 86.4 million people are covered for free by the government under the BPJS scheme.

The number is lower than the recorded figure of 96.7 million poor people, as cited by the National Team for Accelerating Poverty Alleviation (TNP2K).

Furthermore, the card would enable patients to be treated anywhere across the country as the Jokowi administration is planning to create an online database of cardholders.

Although impressed by the concept of the KIS, Indonesian Diaspora Global Network Health chairperson Hanny Moniaga was doubtful that there would be enough funds to cover more people if the card was only used to access medical treatment.

'€œAs a country with such a large population, we have the burden of dealing with protracted medical problems such as tuberculosis and maternal mortality rates, and yet we are also faced with new degenerative diseases such as cancer.

'€œThis is why the card must not just be for curative purposes but also for preventive measures,'€ Hanny said.

Indonesia'€™s maternal mortality rate has reached 359 deaths per 100,000 births, up from 288 per 100,000 in 2007.

Furthermore, there are around 15,000 cases of cervical cancer per year nationwide.

Hanny said with around 90,000 general practitioners nationwide, there were enough doctors and generic medications at community health centers to be able to test patients for diseases early and to educate them about healthy lifestyle practices.

If enough people were encouraged to access preventive measures at community health centers, they would not need to be treated at hospitals, she said.

'€œSo there would not be such a heavy burden on hospitals and funds if the patients could be treated early at community health centers,'€ Hanny said, adding that the practice would also prevent Indonesians from trying to seek medical treatment abroad as there would be an increase in service quality.

Furthermore, the funds saved from such measures could be spent on research and censuses to improve the nation'€™s health, she said.

Government-run coverage program PT ASKES'€™ former operational director Umbu Marambadjawa Marisi said that infrastructure should also be improved as it would contribute to the accessibility of health centers.

'€œWe must guarantee that the quality of service in Papua is the same as it is in Jakarta,'€ he said.

Anies also pointed out that infrastructure was important for education because the government could not guarantee the education of the population if it could not provide the necessary facilities.

According to the Jokowi-Kalla mission statement, the pair will target the construction of 2,000 kilometers of roads nationwide, as well as 10 new airports, 10 ports and 10 industrial estates. (fss)

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