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Defense Ministry’s plan to jump into pharma draws ire
The Defense Ministry is planning to utilize medical laboratories owned by the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) three branches to produce drugs and distribute them through the Red and White Village Cooperatives Program in a bid to lower medicine prices and improve distribution.
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Peddling health: A woman prepares over-the-counter medicines and other health products on July 8, 2021, at a kiosk in Pramuka Market, East Jakarta. (Antara/M. Risyal Hidayat)
T
he Defense Ministry has announced a plan to establish a pharmaceutical factory to produce and distribute medicine through pharmacy cooperatives in villages across the country, which has been met with concern that the initiative may violate the military’s professionalism and do little to solve problems plaguing Indonesia’s pharmaceutical sector.
The plan was first announced by Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin during a meeting with House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs in Jakarta on April 30. Also attending the meeting was Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto.
Sjafrie said at the meeting that the plan was raised after hearing complaints about high medicine prices in Indonesia compared to other countries. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin claimed last year that certain medicines in Indonesia sometimes cost up to five times more than in Singapore or Malaysia.
“We have revitalized the pharmaceutical laboratories within the armed forces into a single factory assigned to support the national defense of medicine,” the minister said during the recorded meeting.
The military’s pharmaceutical factory was developed to create a more inclusive pharmaceutical ecosystem, according to Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Frega Wenas Inkiriwang.
“For the plan, we will prioritize essential, widely beneficial and accessible health needs, while supporting grassroots-level pharmacy cooperatives,” Frega told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
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