Ministry of Health Explains Reasons for Dismissal of Dr Piprim as Civil Servant

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health has stated that the dismissal of Dr Piprim Basarah Yanuarso as a civil servant was due to his consecutive absence of more than 28 working days following a transfer, which constitutes a serious disciplinary violation.

When contacted in Jakarta, Ministry of Health spokesperson Widyawati said that Dr Piprim had previously been transferred from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) to Fatmawati Hospital at the end of March 2025.

“The Director of Fatmawati Jakarta Central General Hospital, Dr Wahyu Widodo, has confirmed that the dismissal of Dr Piprim Basarah as a civil servant has no connection whatsoever to Dr Piprim’s criticism of Ministry of Health policies,” said Widyawati.

She explained that absence from work violates Government Regulation Number 94 of 2021 on Civil Servant Discipline, which stipulates honourable dismissal not at one’s own request for civil servants who are absent from work without valid reason for a cumulative total of 28 working days or more within a single year.

“Dr Wahyu further explained that the dismissal followed applicable rules and procedures. Warning letters had been issued on multiple occasions, accompanied by written disciplinary sanctions. However, Dr Piprim did not appear,” she said.

Dr Piprim, she added, attended once during an examination process on 8 October 2025. From that examination, it was established that he was already aware of the consequences of his actions and had acted consciously.

“Based on the above account, the individual in question has been proven to have committed a serious disciplinary violation, namely never reporting for work without valid reason at Fatmawati Central General Hospital since his transfer from RSCM to Fatmawati,” she said.

Previously, Dr Piprim had posted on his Instagram account, @dr.piprim, that he had been dismissed by Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

“After a prolonged struggle to reject a transfer that carried punitive overtones, resulting from my advocacy for the independence of the paediatrics collegium. Even though the Constitutional Court ultimately ruled that the collegium must be independent, meaning our campaign at IDAI [Indonesian Paediatric Society] was in accordance with the constitution,” he wrote in the post.