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Can Starlink connect the unconnected community health centers?
The JKN has indeed spurred healthcare service growth, but primarily in the private and urban sectors, neglecting community healthcare centers (Puskesmas) and rural areas.
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Seeking remedy: A Papuan woman and her children wait for medical treatment at a local health clinic in Ayam village in Asmat regency, Papua, on Jan. 26, 2018. Poverty remains high in Papua despite its huge natural resources. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
T
he role of the National Health Insurance (JKN), the most extensive single-payer health insurance system in the world, is still growing and presents significant obstacles. According to JKN evaluations conducted continuously for a few years, most of the population will need fair access to high-quality healthcare services.
This inconvenient reality exists largely because healthcare professionals and other resources are distributed unequally.
The JKN has indeed spurred healthcare service growth, but primarily in the private and urban sectors, neglecting community health centers (Puskesmas) and rural areas. The stark imbalance in the distribution of workers and resources significantly affects the quality of health services.
The disparity is evident in the comparison between Java, with its abundance of competent healthcare professionals, and Papua, which endures a shortage of qualified healthcare personnel. This inequality has been linked to lower prenatal attendance rates.
Launched by The Think20 (T20) as the official engagement group of the Group of 20 during Indonesia’s presidency of the organization in 2022, the policy brief on minimizing disparities in accessing healthcare services emphasized the urgency for nations to speed up digitalization in healthcare facilities, including Puskesmas, to improve the quality of care and to reach more people in remote areas.
Despite the challenges, the Health Ministry has taken a significant step toward improving healthcare access in outlying regions. It has recently partnered with Elon Musk's SpaceX satellite internet service, Starlink, to provide high-speed internet access to thousands of Puskesmas in this nation of 17,000 islands that are spread over multiple time zones.
Starlink's unique capability to deliver faster internet service to more places than some of the local internet providers offers a beacon of hope for improved healthcare access in far-flung and isolated areas.
