Chairing a Cabinet Plenary Meeting marking one year of his administration at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday, Prabowo said Indonesia faces a deficit of more than 140,000 general practitioners nationwide.
“We are short of general practitioners — over 140,000 — and thousands of specialists,” he said. “This is a serious problem that must be solved immediately.”
He noted that several countries he had visited were also dealing with doctor shortages. However, developed nations such as the United Kingdom, he said, could overcome the challenge by offering high salaries to foreign doctors.
The President stressed that education policies must adapt to national needs, including increasing the number of medical school students and expanding scholarship opportunities through LPDP.
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He also called for a larger quota of LPDP scholarships for medical faculty students to encourage more young Indonesians to pursue careers in healthcare.
Earlier, Prabowo announced a plan to establish 30 new medical faculties across Indonesian universities to ease the growing shortage of both general practitioners and specialists.
“I aim to open 30 new medical faculties to address the shortage of around 70,000 specialists and 140,000 general practitioners,” he said during the inauguration of the Mahar Mardjono National Brain Hospital in Jakarta on August 26.
The Cabinet Plenary Meeting on Monday marked the tenth held since Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka took office on October 20, 2024.
During the session, Prabowo also outlined progress made under key government programs, including the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) initiative, which aims to improve children’s nutrition and strengthen the domestic agricultural supply chain.
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Translator: Mentari Dwi, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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