Prabowo to Deploy Air Ambulances and Flying Doctors for Remote Communities

President Prabowo Subianto is preparing a breakthrough to address the difficulty of accessing healthcare services for people in remote areas. One measure is the provision of air ambulances to facilitate medical care for these communities. “The people should not have to travel long distances just to obtain basic health services. The state must be present as close as possible to where the people live. For this reason, we will also create air ambulances using helicopters,” Prabowo said during the DPR RI plenary meeting for 2026-2027, as quoted from the TV Parlemen YouTube channel on Friday, 14 August 2026. The air ambulances, comprising helicopters and small aircraft, will be able to land in various locations, such as grass fields, sand fields, and even riverbanks. This is expected to make it easier to evacuate people in remote areas when they require medical treatment. “Air ambulances with helicopters, with small planes that can land on grass fields, on sand fields, can land on riverbanks, so that none of our people cannot be evacuated if they fall ill,” he continued. In addition to air ambulances, Prabowo also raised the possibility of deploying teams of doctors who can be flown directly to a patient’s location. This step is considered a potential solution when a patient is in critical condition or when a disaster hinders access to a hospital. “In fact, later there will also be flying doctor teams. If necessary, the doctors will fly to the place of a critically ill person or to face a disaster,” he added. Prabowo explained that the need for this healthcare breakthrough arose because there are still people facing obstacles related to distance and access to health facilities. “I received reports that many mothers died because they had to travel 7 to 9 hours while in labour. When it was time to give birth, they had to travel 9 hours because there were no good roads, because the bridges were not good. In the end, many mothers died in areas not far from the capital,” he said.