Minister warns of influx of foreign doctors
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)