Prabowo Reveals Reasons for Inviting Foreign Doctors to Practise in Indonesia

President Prabowo Subianto has opened the option of inviting foreign doctors to practise in Indonesia as part of government efforts to address the shortage of medical professionals, particularly general practitioners and specialists. “We must face and solve the problem of our shortage of general practitioners and specialist doctors. If necessary, we are considering inviting doctors from other countries to practise here for limited periods,” he said in a speech at the DPR Plenary Session on Friday, August 14, 2026, as quoted from the TV Parlemen YouTube channel.

Prabowo explained that this measure was taken to tackle the shortage of medical personnel in Indonesia. He noted that the country still lacks 84,781 general practitioners and 127,580 dentists. Additionally, 481 districts and cities require an additional 55,712 specialist doctors. “Because if we wait for 187,000 dentists to graduate, we might have to wait for four presidents after me,” he said.

Furthermore, the government has established nine new medical faculties. The government will also open 170 specialist and sub-specialist study programmes based at universities and hospitals. According to Prabowo, these efforts need to be continuously expanded so that the need for medical personnel can be met immediately. “We will strive to expand this further,” he said.

Prabowo assessed that the government cannot simply wait until the number of domestic doctors is sufficient. He said the public demands health services as quickly as possible, so more innovative measures are needed. “The people demand and expect health services as quickly as possible. We must not think normatively; we must dare to think innovatively,” he said.