Health Minister Baffled by Rise in Anti-Vaccine Sentiment
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has stated that his ministry will intensify education regarding vaccination in the country. He admitted to being puzzled by the increasing number of people who are now anti-vaccine.
This was conveyed by Budi during a working meeting with Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday (23/6/2026). Budi initially outlined his strategic steps to boost vaccination.
“This is the national immunisation strategy, Ladies and Gentlemen. Firstly, I want to convey that in our view, the Ministry of Health, the most important thing is we want to ensure, if possible, within the next two years, the provision of immunisation service infrastructure is complete,” Budi said during the meeting.
Budi mentioned that the Ministry of Health is preparing steps for planning, procurement, and distribution of vaccines. The ministry is also increasing public education regarding vaccination. He then touched upon the fact that many people are still anti-vaccine.
“Then the second strategy is that the vaccine provision cycle, from planning, procurement, distribution, to delivery, must be continuously monitored every year,” Budi said.
“And the third, which is also important and previously was not a major focus but is now increasingly critical, is education. We must be more serious about this education strategy, because I do not know why there are so many people who are now anti-vaccine,” he added.
Budi also revealed the budget requirements for vaccines and immunisation. The ministry requires a budget of Rp 44.49 trillion for vaccine provision over five years.
“We have a note on budget availability for 2025-2029. The requirement is Rp 44 trillion, so there is a gap. But this is until 2029. For the 2026 gap alone, we are still short by Rp 1 trillion, because it was cut,” Budi said.
Budi stated that the budget cuts to the Ministry of Health in 2026 have impacted the vaccination programme. He will convey these budget needs to the Ministry of Finance to follow up on vaccination requirements.
“So what is important for me is that, Mr Kunta is not present, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health is currently at the Budget Agency, because we are requesting additional budget. One of the most important things is that for 2026, because we were cut, the cut included the immunisation budget, the vaccine budget,” Budi said.
“It is not the other things, just the vaccines we are short. We are short by around Rp 1 trillion. We actually have a plan until 2029, we have already submitted it to the Ministry of Finance and Bappenas, this is our immunisation programme plan. Because this is routine, based on the number of births and so on. So there is still a gap of around Rp 4.91 trillion until 2029,” he added.