Health Minister: Free Health Check Programme Coverage to be Expanded to Support Children's Mental Health

Jakarta — Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin announced plans to expand the Free Health Check Programme (CKG) to cover 14 million children by 2026 as a preventive measure to enhance children’s mental health support and prevent suicide.

In 2025, the CKG programme reached seven million children against a target of 25 million. From this cohort, approximately 4.4 per cent, or 338,000 children, showed symptoms of anxiety, whilst 4.8 per cent, or 363,000 children, exhibited depressive symptoms.

“Four children have already died in 2026,” the Minister said on Monday in Jakarta. “These four children were from East Nusa Tenggara, West Java, Central Java, and East Kalimantan, aged between 11 and 14 years. They were not only from low-income families, such as the case in Ngada.”

Sadikin identified two significant factors driving child suicide. The first is family-related factors, including family conflict and parenting patterns. The second factor is environmental, such as bullying in academic settings.

To address these issues, the Health Ministry plans to expand mental health screening to identify at-risk children earlier. “The primary cause lies within the family,” Sadikin emphasised. “We must educate not only children but also parents, particularly mothers. Many mothers are unaware that their parenting patterns cause their children anxiety, depression, and subsequently suicidal thoughts.”

The ministry will also educate teachers to identify social pressures such as bullying and intervene appropriately. An emergency helpline service will be established for children in crisis, whilst health centres will be equipped with mental health professionals to provide medical care.

Sadikin confirmed that the Health Ministry, alongside the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, and the National Police, signed a joint ministerial decree to strengthen child mental health initiatives.

The Minister also called on media outlets to report mental health cases positively, educationally, and fairly, whilst protecting patient confidentiality to safeguard the wellbeing of affected individuals and the general public.