TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsFree health screening to include disease treatment
The Health Ministry plans to add treatment to its free health screening program after reaching 70 percent of its target, shifting focus from detection to early intervention and long-term cost savings.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Medical workers check a women's blood pressure during the opening day of the nationwide free birthday health screening program at a community health center (Puskesmas) in Surabaya, East Java on Feb. 10, 2025. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
T
he Health Ministry is seeking to expand coverage and begin providing treatment for diseases detected through its free health screening program, which reached about 70 percent of its target in its first year of rollout.
Launched as one of President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship programs, the initiative began in February to offer all Indonesians an annual health screening at their nearest community health centers (Puskesmas) or other designated facilities.
The program targeted 100 million people in 2025 but achieved only 70 percent of that goal. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stressed, however, that the number of screenings was not the initiative’s main objective.
“What matters most is that we begin providing treatment and care, so those who are unhealthy or less healthy can return to good health,” he said at a briefing last week, adding that the program would expand this year to directly provide treatment for health problems identified through the screening.
This year, the ministry aims to screen 136 million people. Participants diagnosed with illnesses will receive free treatment for the first 15 days, with priority given to hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and breast cancer.
Read also: Health checks for all
“[Hypertension and diabetes] are the ‘mother of all diseases’ that can lead to more serious conditions,” said Health Ministry primary and community health director general Maria Endang Sumiwi. “That is why patients with hypertension and diabetes will be given medication immediately, even if they are not covered by BPJS Kesehatan [Healthcare and Social Security Agency].”
