Thanks to technology, patients can play a more active role on their health journey, rather than being passive receivers of care. Such a patient-centered care should continue post-pandemic.

In a recent two-day conference, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the COVID-19 pandemic had paved the way for the digital health ecosystem to grow. This has helped improve the delivery of health services in day-to-day circumstances and hopefully can ensure people’s readiness for future emergencies. Budi predicted that after the coronavirus pandemic is over the use of technology for care delivery will be much more widespread.

Speaking during the Special Ministerial Conference for ASEAN Digital Public Health themed “Collaborate for Happier and Healthier World Post-Pandemic”, from Oct. 6 to 7, Budi said the Indonesian government was fully supporting and pushing forward the use of digital technologies for people’s health in the future.

In the last several years, smartphone ownership and internet usage have skyrocketed in Indonesia. As of today, there are an estimated 202 million internet users in the country, mostly smartphone owners.

To tackle the pandemic, Indonesia has benefitted from digital information technologies in COVID-19 testing, contract-tracing and treatment, Budi said. As a result, the positivity rate now stands at only 0.88 percent, with the number of COVID-19 cases declining by 58 percent within only two weeks after the second wave peaking in July.