Provinces to see more money for health care maintenance

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Health will disburse 86.4 percent of its proposed 2000 budget to regional administrations for the development and maintenance of health care outside the capital.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said the decision will give regional administrations more control over their health budgets which is in line with the government's plan to implement regional autonomy as stipulated in Law No. 22/1999.

In the draft budget, health was allocated Rp 4.34 trillion. According to Achmad, some Rp 3.75 trillion (US$468 million) will now go straight to the provinces.

In the previous budget the central government directly managed 41.3 percent of the health budget.

The health budget only accounts for a meager 2.37 percent of the overall 2000 state budget.

In comparison to the previous year's budget, the new draft has seen an increase of 9 percent in the equivalent nine-months covered by the new budget.

"The small budget is fine as long as we can use it effectively," Achmad told reporters.

"To ensure the effective use of the funds, the central government has set up programs to elevate the quality of service and improve the facilities in hospitals in the regencies," Achmad told legislators during a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission VII on welfare and population.

The programs demand that regional administrations equip their hospitals with sufficient facilities and improved human resources.

The hospitals will also be responsible for developing community health centers in their respective areas.

Achmad said that among the improved proficiency requirements will be the ability of regency-level hospitals to detect Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) and tuberculosis. The hospitals are expected to add more specialists.

Apart from HIV, these hospitals must also have a surveillance program to monitor outbreaks of Acute Flaccid Paralysis and other diseases. (04)