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Minister Budi fires back at omnibus health bill critics
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Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin addresses the audience in a panel discussion at the Business 20 (B20) Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Nov.13, 2022. (B20 Secretariat/-)
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esponding to criticism, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin is adamant that the omnibus health bill would help cut through the bureaucratic red tape that currently plagues the health sector, and that it would aid in ongoing efforts to reform the sector, including addressing Indonesia’s severe lack of doctors.
The omnibus health bill seeks to bring in sweeping changes to the health sector by supplanting nine existing laws, including the 2004 Medical Practice law, the 2009 Health Law, the 2009 Hospitals Law and the 2014 Health Workers Law.
The bill, however, has also been met with stiff opposition from a number of doctors and medical associations, including the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), who decried the lack of public participation in the bill’s formulation.
Read also: Medical professionals associations slam healthcare omnibus bill drafting
The IDI had previously criticized the fact that, should the bill be passed into law, it would grant the government greater authority over a number of crucial aspects in the health sector, including how doctors are educated, given license and distributed amid a perceived lack of doctors and medical specialists in the country.
In response, Budi said since the responsibility to ensure that Indonesians could have access to proper healthcare falls to the government, it was only natural for the government to be given greater authority.
“If there is a lack of doctors, the government has to [provide solutions] on how to produce more [doctors],” he said during a public discussion on Wednesday. “It’s impossible for the state to be held accountable [for healthcare in the country], but is not given the authority to answer to these responsibilities.”
