Jakarta, 14 December 2015 – Minister of Health, Nila Moeloek stated that in general the health condition of Indonesian people is still worrying[i]. At the end of 2015, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were far from being achieved. The Millennium Development Goals in the health sector, which include reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, have failed to be realized.

So that the potential for similar failures does not occur again, especially in efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a number of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who are members of the Health Cluster Coalition[ii] invite the Ministry of Health to act as an extension of the government’s hand to jointly improve policies in the health sector along with their implementation in the field, with the principle of synergistic division of roles.

Rokhmad Munawir from PATTIRO said that the policy in the health sector that needs to be immediately improved is the policy for implementing the National Health Insurance (JKN) program. According to Rokhmad, even though it has been managing the JKN program for almost two years, the Health Social Security Administering Agency (BPJS) is still unable to implement the program optimally, as well as health units, especially hospitals, which often ignore JKN implementation regulations.

In fact, said Rokhmad, so far JKN has been the basis for financing public health and this program also determines the level of quality of services provided by health facilities. “The role of the community in JKN is important to ensure the effectiveness of the government program and the level of benefits for the community. “This two year implementation period lays the foundation for the success of JKN,” he added.

Furthermore, Prof. Anna Alisjahbana from F2H said, not only encouraging improvements in policy and implementation of the JKN program, in general, the Health Coalition also invites the Ministry of Health to work together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the health sector, namely ensuring healthy living and promoting prosperity for all citizens in all countries. age level, can be achieved.

“In SDGs point 16[iii], it is emphasized that to achieve all these goals there must be cooperation. And to ensure healthy lives for every individual in this country, cooperation also needs to be across disciplines. “It doesn’t only focus on the health sector but also involves, among other things, the fields of anthropology and communication, because we don’t just take care of medical matters but encourage people to change their behavior so that they are empowered to maintain their health,” explained Anna.

Collaborating with the government is nothing new for this coalition. Andwi Joko Mulyanto from PATTIRO Surakarta explained that previously, various organizations that were members of the coalition had often collaborated with local governments to encourage improvements in policy implementation in their respective work areas.

“We don’t want coalition efforts to stop at the regional level. “By forming this Health Cluster Coalition, we also want to encourage improvements in the implementation of national policies in the health sector by collaborating with the central government, in this case the Ministry of Health,” concluded Andwi.

The Health Cluster Coalition hopes that the partnerships that have been built with regional governments can also contribute to achieving national development targets in the health sector. This model of collaboration and cooperation between government and civil society, apart from leveraging the achievement of the SDGs, is also expected to have a significant impact on improving the health services received by the community.

[i] https://wartaekonomi.co.id/read60119/menkes-kondisi-kesehatan-masyarakat-indonesia-mengkhawatirkan.html
[ii] Koalisi Klaster Kesehatan terdiri dari Pusat Telaah dan Informasi Regional (PATTIRO), PATTIRO Surakarta, PATTIRO Semarang, PATTIRO Jeka, PRAKARSA Jawa Timur, LPPA Bina Annisa Kota Mojokerto dan Frontiers for Health (F2H).
[iii] Tujuan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan/ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ke 16: Mendorong masyarakat inklusif untuk pembangunan berkelanjutan, menyediakan akses keadilan bagi semua orang, serta membangun institusi yang efektif, akuntabel dan inklusif pada semua tingkatan.