Indonesian group praises Prabowo's plan to strengthen health services

Rekan Indonesia has expressed appreciation for President Prabowo Subianto’s plan to strengthen health services through the renovation of community health centres (Puskesmas), the construction and revitalisation of hospitals, and the addition of health workers in various regions.

Rekan Indonesia Chairman Agung Nugroho assessed that the programme is a positive step towards expanding equitable access to healthcare, especially in areas that still have limited facilities and medical personnel.

“This is a positive step. The state is beginning to push health services closer to the public, especially in regions that have long faced limitations in facilities and access,” Agung said in a written statement in Jakarta on Saturday.

In the Financial Note of the 2027 State Budget Draft (RAPBN), President Prabowo announced a plan to renovate 10,000 Puskesmas across 7,285 sub-districts starting in 2027, with a budget of around Rp4 billion per Puskesmas.

The government is also targeting the construction or renovation of 514 Public Health Laboratories (Labkesmas) by 2030.

Agung reminded that improvements to facilities must be accompanied by the availability of doctors, health workers, medicines, medical equipment, and adequate services.

At the hospital level, the government plans to build 66 hospitals in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions, with 20 hospitals built since 2025 reported to be operational.

In addition, the government is targeting the revitalisation of 441 regional general hospitals (RSUD). Nevertheless, the government has stated that there is a need for an additional 84,781 general practitioners, 127,580 dentists across 505 districts/cities, and 55,712 specialist doctors across 481 districts/cities.

Agung urged that the construction of health facilities be followed by certainty of operational and maintenance budgets.

In the 2027 RAPBN, transfers to regions will increase from Rp692.9 trillion in 2026 to Rp725.5 trillion in 2027.

“The measure of success is not how many Puskesmas have been renovated or RSUDs built, but whether the public can obtain health services that are closer, faster, of high quality, and affordable,” Agung said.