January 6, 2025
JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto’s administration is planning to roll out free medical screenings next month as part of the country’s effort to detect various diseases early and avoid preventable deaths.
Dedek Prayudi, a spokesperson for the Presidential Communications Office, said that people would be eligible for a free health screening on their birthday at Community Health Centers (Puskesmas) starting from February.
“People can go to their nearest Puskesmas and show their ID card to get the free health checkup. It’s easy and it would cost a lot of money if paid for from their own pocket,” Dedek said in a statement on Sunday.
“The President wants people to stay healthy. His perspective on health is not just treating sick people, as promotive and preventive efforts are much more important,” Dedek said.
The government has allocated Rp 4.7 trillion (US$290 million) for the program this year, which will cover 60 million people accessing the service.
Over the course of five years, the government is hoping to increase the number of recipients to 200 million people.
The primary focus of the free health checkups, Dedek said, will be on screening people for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.
According to the 2023 socioeconomic registration data, NCDs are the biggest cause of death in the country, with cardiovascular diseases alone contributing 600,000 deaths per year.
“The government sees that it as something serious that must be given special attention,” Dedek said.
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Aside from NCDs, the health screenings will also target specific diseases and medical conditions depending on the patient’s age and gender for increased effectiveness and to minimize the mortality and disability rates across the country.
Children under 5 years old will be tested for preexisting conditions and birth defects, such as congenital hypothyroidism, a partial or complete loss of function of the thyroid gland that can disrupt growth, brain development and metabolism.
Older children aged up to 18 years will be checked for obesity, diabetes and oral health, while screenings for adults will test for common types of cancers based on gender.
Elderly people will be screened for geriatric medical conditions, in addition to cardiovascular diseases.
Diah Saminarsih, founder of the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI), said the free checkups would be a good first step in addressing Indonesia’s NCD problem and that the initiative complemented the Health Ministry’s focus on improving primary healthcare services.
But she also urged the government to come up with a plan on how to follow up on each patient’s medical findings.
“Let’s say that a patient finds out she has cancer. Can the government guarantee that she will be able to receive treatment for life? Or in the case that [the costs] will be footed by the National Health Insurance [JKN] program, what happens if the patient cannot pay the premium?” Diah said on Sunday. “These are key technical aspects the government must prepare beforehand.”
To optimize the free screening program, Diah also called on the Health Ministry to intensify awareness campaigns on the importance of medical checkups, saying that the reason behind people’s hesitance to get regular screenings was not only cost, but also a lack of information and social stigma.