Ministry of Immigration and Corrections and Ministry of Health Synergise to Improve Healthcare Services in Prisons

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections (Kemenimipas) is synergising with the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) to increase healthcare service capacity in prison and detention centre clinics to support the cataract eradication programme and Free Health Check-ups (CKG) for inmates and the general public.

Minister of Immigration and Corrections Agus Andrianto stated that this synergy is a breakthrough that benefits the community. “This synergy is a strategic step to increase healthcare service capacity as well as a tangible manifestation of our shared commitment to the success of the government’s priority programme regarding the provision of free health facilities for the community,” Agus said while reviewing cataract examinations and CKG at the Cipinang Corrections General Hospital in Jakarta on Monday.

Kemenimipas collaborated with the Ministry of Health and the private sector to hold cataract examinations and CKG at the Cipinang Corrections General Hospital in Jakarta to celebrate the 81st Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia. The event, which targeted 81 members of the general public, 81 inmates, and correctional officers throughout the DKI Jakarta region, was also attended by Deputy Minister of Health Benjamin Paulus Octavianus.

During the event, Agus conveyed that this cross-agency synergy is not just ordinary cooperation, but an extraordinary breakthrough that provides benefits to the community. He mentioned that the Directorate General of Corrections routinely conducts CKG for inmates every month since it was launched by President Prabowo Subianto. To support the CKG programme so it reaches the general public, Kemenimipas sent a letter to the Ministry of Health requesting additional service capacity.

“Therefore, Mr Deputy Minister and Madam Director General, we sent a letter yesterday to request that the health facilities in our prisons and detention centres be increased so that we can not only provide services to correctional inmates, but also to the surrounding residents of prisons and detention centres throughout Indonesia,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Health assessed that the cataract examination and CKG programme organised by Kemenimipas supports the Ministry of Health’s work programmes. According to him, cataract examinations and CKG are very important. “With cataract examinations, damaged eye lenses are replaced, a person can see again so that life activities can resume,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, CKG is important for improving the quality of life of the Indonesian people. “Because looking at the habits of Indonesians, if they are not sick, they do not want to go to the hospital. Meanwhile, the President wants Indonesians to be healthy at the age of 65,” Benjamin said.

According to him, CKG will reveal whether a person has hypertension or not, because hypertension is a gateway to other diseases such as stroke, kidney failure, diabetes, and heart disease. “I propose CKG as we are doing here today, why? Because hypertension and diabetes have no complaints. So the causes of stroke, dialysis, kidney failure, heart attacks, are due to uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes,” he said.

Benjamin hopes that through CKG, the number of sick people will decrease. To date, he said, the Ministry of Health has conducted CKG on 73.4 million Indonesians. “Our goal is for Indonesians of productive age, from 19 to 59 years old, not to get sick,” he said.