Jokowi Highlights Health Sector Reform in MPR Annual Session

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said that fundamental reforms in the health sector must be expedited following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The orientation towards disease prevention and a healthy lifestyle must be prioritized,” said the President in his annual state of the nation address during the MPR annual session at the Parliament Building, Jakarta, Friday, August 14.

He reiterated that the strengthening of the capacity of human resources, the development of hospitals, health centers, and the drug and medical devices industry must also be prioritized.

“We must improve the resilience and the capacity of health services on a large scale,” he added.

According to the President, the health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced the government to shift its working methods, from normal to extra-normal, from ordinary to extraordinary ways.

The long, cumbersome bureaucratic procedures must also be converted to smart shortcuts, and that the government has to adopt a result-oriented approach, rather than a process-oriented one. “Our mindset and work ethic must change,” the state head remarked.

During the MPR annual session, Jokowi underlined that the momentum of the crisis must be capitalized to make big leaps. “Do not waste lessons from the crisis. Do not let this crisis bring about setbacks.”

Read: MPR Annual Session; Jokowi Expected to Grow Optimism Amid Pandemic

FRISKI RIANA