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Executive Column: Roche readies ‘huge innovation’ for RI’s healthcare resilience
Roche Indonesia president director Dr. Ait-Allah Mejri spoke with The Jakarta Post’ to discuss the company’s experience in accelerating innovation and the development, prospects and opportunities in Indonesia’s biopharmaceutical industry.
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Roche Indonesia president director Dr. Ait-Allah Mejri. (Roche Indonesia/-)
The G20 Summit has put global health architecture in the spotlight to ensure the international community’s resilience in any future pandemic.
Regarding that, Roche Indonesia president director Dr. Ait-Allah Mejri spoke with The Jakarta Post’s Divya Karyza to discuss the company’s experience in accelerating innovation and the development, prospects and opportunities in the country’s biopharmaceutical industry.
Question: What measures should Indonesia implement to accelerate universal access to affordable and quality-healthcare services?
Answer: Indonesia has a clear transformation plan. We need to improve the standard of care, and we need to improve everything from the moment the patient is suspected to have a disease to the time he or she finishes the treatment. And I think what we need is to work together -- public sector, private sector, academia and all institutions -- to make a quantum leap. What we need is a qualitative shift in healthcare.
Healthcare today is not considered a development engine. It is still considered a social cost and we don’t see investment in healthcare. Stakeholders need to put in place mechanisms to allow patients to be diagnosed and treated earlier for all diseases.
To date, early diagnosis is not a focus. As a result, most Indonesian patients seek treatments when they are suffering from diseases that are already at an advanced stage. If it’s cancer, then it is at a late stage -- meaning that the patient and the government spend a lot of money for minimum health outcomes.
The government needs to focus its efforts on updating standards of care, facilitating the uptake of innovation and digital health, allocating resources efficiently as well as ensuring that human and system capacities are gradually in place.
