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adjah Mada University has awarded the title of doctor honoris causa in medical and public health community to Sri Dato Tahir. This event bore some significant aspects.

First, this title recognized Tahir'€™s dedication to improving medical services, public health and humanity through his philanthropic works over a long period of time at national and international levels.

His involvement in philanthropy is impressive both in terms of his commitment and seriousness toward the cause, as well as in terms of the amount of money he donates. Tahir, a businessman, has disbursed Rp 1 trillion (US$75 million) for the training of Indonesian female workers who plan to work abroad.

With these funds, Tahir hopes to provide consistent training to Indonesian female migrant workers to make them skilled and resilient, as well as to give them bargaining power.

Together with Bill Gates, Tahir was instrumental in approaching many of Indonesia'€™s big businessmen in his fund-raising efforts. He met with a number of Indonesian businesspeople and committed to establishing the Indonesian Health Fund Foundation, a collaboration between Tahir Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates and Tahir each contributed US$100 million, two-thirds of which will be allocated toward charitable activities in Indonesia, particularly within the field of health.

Because of his role, Tahir has been mentioned by Forbes magazine as among the 48-most notable philanthropists in the Asia-Pacific region in its annual Heroes of Philanthropy report. Through the Tahir Foundation, Tahir, a banking and property magnate, has not only made enormous contributions to health and education but also promised a donation of tens of billions of rupiah to eradicate polio until 2018.

The second important aspect was Tahir'€™s view and vision on philanthropy. Tahir was correct when he said the provision of such support was only possible if it was based on vision and commitment, which is reflected in his sincere goodwill and good actions to other human beings and the environment. Because of its voluntary and self-interest free nature, altruistic activities (in the form of donation or others) should be intended for anyone, without discrimination, and should go beyond primordial values.

He emphasized strongly that for him, philanthropic activities were not motivated by income tax relief but by the joy and happiness it gives him to help those in need.

The fact that his philanthropy was funded by a source after the deduction of the obligation to pay state taxes, only seems to support his claim that his involvement in philanthropy is not for external incentives but for his sense of responsibility to do good things.

With this principle and character, his philanthropic programs have become more reliable and sustainable with long-term and strategic orientation. These characteristics have resulted in significant impact and concrete results within the society.

The third important aspect was because according to Tahir, philanthropy is one way to address the healthcare challenges for Indonesia to face its health financing burden.

Indonesia'€™s burden in health financing is huge, not only due to the high burden of handling diseases but also due to its large population. One of the heaviest financial pressures comes from combating non-infectious diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.

As life expectancy rises, so does financial demand. Government financing in this area has increased from 49 percent in 2000 to 58 percent in 2010. Citing WHO data, Tahir reminded that Indonesia was also facing a potential total loss of Rp 4.47 trillion from 2012 to 2030 due to non-infectious diseases.

On the other hand, infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, remain complex problems for societies that also absorb a lot of resources.

In 2014, it was found that the government had to spend up to Rp 500 billion every year (an estimated 3 million people/patients) toward combating malaria. In 2014, Indonesia also saw 1 million new cases of tuberculosis. The government has allocated an Rp 1.8 trillion budget, but this amount is only enough to cover 34 percent of these patients.
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Jusuf Wanandi is vice chair, board of trustees of the CSIS Foundation and Medelina K. Hendytio is deputy of executive director at the Centre of Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.