Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The number of Indonesian citizens seeking medical treatment abroad is increasing. The countries that are often chosen as destinations for medical treatment are Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, European countries, and the United States.
Due to this phenomenon, there is around Rp180 trillion per year in state foreign exchange lost. Regarding this, the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Doctors Association (PB IDI) dr Adib Khumaidi said the reason why many Indonesians seek treatment abroad.
In addition to cheaper medicine and transportation, he said there is patient comfort in communicating with doctors. According to him, this needs to be noted by a number of medical personnel in Indonesia in order to improve the quality of service.
“We now always say that communication skills of doctors in Indonesia must be improved, because one of the reasons why patients seek treatment abroad, seek treatment in Malaysia or Singapore, is because of the communication factor which they consider better there than in Indonesia,” said Adib as quoted by detikcom.
“Why is financing cheap? Because there is a state policy, state regulation regarding free tax, especially health services to the community,” concluded Dr. Adib.
Previously, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) revealed that the number of Indonesians who travel back and forth abroad for medical treatment is more than 1 million people.
Indonesia is clearly disadvantaged by this condition. Because, there is a potential for lost economic value.
“We lost US$11.5 billion, if converted into rupiah, that's Rp180 trillion lost because our citizens don't want to seek treatment domestically,” said the President while attending the National Health Working Meeting at ICE BSD, Tangerang, Wednesday (24/4/2024).
According to government records, the favorite medical treatment destinations for Indonesians include Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and the United States.
The President realized that Indonesia is indeed lagging behind in the health sector. Currently, the ratio of doctors in Indonesia is at 0.47 when compared to the population in the country.
Referring to the World Health Organization (WHO) standard, the ideal ratio of the number of doctors, including general practitioners and specialists, is 1/1000 or 1 doctor per 1000 population. If a country succeeds in meeting the “golden line”, then it can be categorized as successful and responsible to its people in the health sector.
The latest figures obtained from WHO and the World Bank, Indonesia's ratio is at 0.47/1000. This figure puts Indonesia in the third lowest position in ASEAN after Laos 0.3/1000 and Cambodia 0.42/1000.
To address this issue, Jokowi said the Health Law had been revised to make it easier for young Indonesians to enter medical education, including specialist doctors, whose numbers are much smaller.
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