he House of Representatives and the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) will meet to discuss opposing views regarding a primary health care physicians (DLP) program that has been proposed by the House, legislators have said.
The association is opposing the program over license and certification issues.
"There are still different perspectives about the DLP between the House and the IDI which we are trying to harmonize. The DLP is actually regulated to improve physicians’ preparedness in providing medical services to patients," Ferdiansyah told The Jakarta Post.
Another House member, Dadang Supriatna, highlighted the importance of the program.
Unlike existing general practitioners who focus on curing patients, the program will also include health care campaigns and illness prevention. The DLP will train primary health care physicians in family medicine, community medicine and public health sciences, making them considered equal with specialist physicians.
(Read also: Association urges House to drop new doctor classification)
"According to the research, countries that run the program have lower infant mortality rates than those that don’t run it. The program has been international best practice," Dadang said.
In the future, new physicians and general practitioners must follow the program. A regulation about the program is currently being prepared by the Health Ministry.
According to Dadang, the program will be implemented in two or three years. (dmr)
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