Indonesia’s ‘flying doctor’ plan to bring healthcare to remote areas

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3 hours ago

It is not that every village or every urban ward would then have air transportation.

Jakarta (ANTARA) – State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi said the government’s “flying doctor” program would focus on improving access to healthcare in remote areas where medical facilities are difficult to reach, rather than providing the service in every village.

Hadi was responding to a concept outlined by President Prabowo Subianto in his speech on the government’s proposed 2027 state budget and financial note at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta on Friday.

“Why did the idea of flying doctors emerge? We use the term ‘flying’ because, on several occasions when we have traveled across Indonesia, we have seen that our country is very vast and access to healthcare facilities is still uneven,” he said at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Saturday.

The government is accelerating improvements to healthcare facilities, including community health centers and regional public hospitals, to reduce the distance and time people need to access medical services, he said.

The flying doctors initiative is part of efforts to provide helicopter-based rapid-response healthcare services in certain areas. Similar concepts have also been implemented in several countries.

Hadi said the service could be used to respond to certain medical conditions in remote areas. However, he stressed that the plan did not mean every village or urban ward would need an air transport service.

“It is not that every village or every urban ward would then have air transportation. That is not necessarily how it would work,” he said.

Prabowo has also instructed state-owned enterprises to prepare mobile dental services, Hadi said.

The service would use vehicles equipped with dental equipment to provide care directly to communities and help speed up treatment, particularly for dental health problems, he added.

Development of the mobile dental units is still underway, Hadi said, adding that the government was evaluating the program because dental services require equipment different from that used in general medical care.