MPR Speaker Calls an End on Healthcare's Import Dependency

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Bambang Soesatyo on Tuesday urged the government to stop being dependent on imported healthcare and medical equipment supplies and rather shift its focus on domestic pharmaceutical and medical equipment industry. 

“This will ensure Indonesia as the main player and host in its own country,” said the Speaker in a statement on Tuesday.

He argues that the Covid-19 pandemic has driven products from the aforementioned industries into high demand items as people are starting to care more about their health, and would rather see homegrown industries flourish amidst this health trend. 

Bambang explains that the government has prepared a budget of Rp300 trillion in 2021 for the procurement of medical equipment for state-run hospitals. This number has spiked compared to the previous year which saw the government spend Rp18 trillion due to the pandemic. 

It would be ‘unfortunate’ according to him if the massive spending is spent on foreign medical equipment producers. 

The Golkar Party politician cited a statistic provided by the Industry Ministry which states that Indonesia’s healthcare industry is supported by 220 companies with 90 percent of the pharmaceutical firms focusing on the downstream sector by producing medicines. 

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