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Indonesia’s health reform faces tough year
Ongoing efforts to reform Indonesia's healthcare system following the COVID-19 pandemic might face major hurdles this year, with the threat of global recession looming and the 2024 presidential election getting closer.
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A mother brings her child to a community health center (Puskesmas) in Dago, Bandung, West Java, on Nov. 21, 2022 for a polio vaccination. (Antara/Raisan Al Farisi)
O
ngoing efforts to reform Indonesia's healthcare system following the COVID-19 pandemic could face major hurdles this year, with the threat of a looming global recession and the 2024 presidential election getting closer, the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI) has warned in a report.
The report, which was published on Feb. 23 predicted that the reform of Indonesia's healthcare system would slow down in 2023 as Indonesia enters the political year and the government focuses its funding on the elections and other major unfinished infrastructure projects, including the development of the new capital.
The CISDI highlighted that raising productivity and maintaining economic recovery take the front seat in the 2023 government working plan (RKP) as Indonesia seeks to boost economic growth while scaling back state spending amid the threat of a global recession, high inflation and geopolitical tension.
The government's priority is reflected in the state budget for health care, which was cut 20 percent compared with last year, as the pandemic recedes.
This year, the government is allocating Rp 178.7 trillion ($11.9 billion) in its healthcare budget with no specific budget allocated for the COVID-19 response.
In 2022, the government allocated Rp 255.3 trillion for health care, with Rp 82.4 trillion going to address the coronavirus pandemic. The previous year, the government allocated a staggering Rp 312.4 trillion for healthcare spending, with Rp 188 trillion spent on COVID-19 response efforts.
The CISDI said that while during the COVID-19 pandemic the government allocated a substantial amount of the state budget for health care, most of the budget went on pandemic response, especially for vaccine procurement, rather than on improving the healthcare system overall.
