Minister warns of influx of foreign doctors
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi warned that Indonesia could be inundated with foreign health practitioners with the start of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 2003, if it does not improve the quality of its human resources and services in this field.
"The ability of our doctors and nurses along with our health technology are still below the quality of foreign health practitioners," Sujudi told reporters on Saturday.
In his opening remarks at a seminar on the Implementation of AFTA 2003 in Health Services, Sujudi expressed concern that the freedom from trade barriers brought about by the arrangement will cause many Indonesian doctors to loose patients as they would move to foreign doctors expected to open practices here.
But Sujudi also remarked that AFTA would bring out positive effects in that Indonesians will not have to go abroad to get the best possible medical treatment.
This means foreign exchange will remain in the country, he remarked.
Sujudi warned that it was important for the health community here to be alert to these developments.
He warned that without improvements in their own practice, starting from the way doctors and nurses are educated, Indonesia will merely become a market for foreign health practitioners while Indonesians themselves cannot compete abroad.
"So unemployment of health officers could be the next problem we have to deal with," he remarked.
"The world needs around 900,000 nurses each year, if we could compete, maybe we could enter this market," Sujudi added.
But the chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) Merdias Almatsier suggested that it would be better for the implementation of AFTA to be delayed.
He said that a meeting of doctors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in October came to the conclusion that physicians in the region were not yet fully prepared to implement such a free trade arrangement.
"So it would be better if the implementation be delayed while we form a working committee to really improve our doctors' abilities, Merdias said.
Training
One area Sujudi stressed needed improvement is the training and education of doctors and nurses.
The ministry also plans to accredit nursing academies and set a national exam for medical schools across the country so every medical professional will have a minimum standard which can compete with their foreign counterparts.
As part of efforts to help domestic nurses meet international standard, the government opened on Saturday the International Health Care Training Programme (IHTP).
Sujudi said in his speech the program would seek opportunities for Indonesian nurses to obtain apprenticeship at health centers in Europe, the Middle East and the United States.
"At present, Indonesian medical and paramedical personnel are yet to enjoy international recognition," he said.
Sujudi said he believed the overseas stint would improve the aptitude of the Indonesian medical personnel, which would make it easier for them to seek employment in various countries.
The program is jointly organized by the health ministry, manpower ministry, foreign affairs ministry and workers recruitment agency Binawan Inti Utama. (dja)