Indonesia in push to improve healthcare access in rural areas

Private firms welcome to open clinics in big cities if they do so in remote regions too: Minister

- Hariz Baharudin

Work is under way to improve healthcare access in Indonesia, as the government is currently engaging in talks with providers to encourage them to set up facilities in remote areas.

Indonesia plans to allow private healthcare firms to open more clinics and hospitals in its more populous cities, on the condition that they also establish facilities in rural parts of the country, said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

This invitation is open to both local and foreign players, such as companies from Singapore, Mr Budi told The Straits Times in an exclusive interview on July 31.

"As long as they want to invest, I will facilitate them... but if you want to invest, you help me with the distribution" of facilities, he said, adding that this was because Indonesia has "imbalances on the supply side, especially on the number of doctors".

Large Indonesian cities like capital Jakarta, Medan in north Sumatra, and Surabaya in East Java offer the biggest slices of the more than US$30 billion (S$39.7 billion) healthcare market.