TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed that an additional budget of approximately US$84 billion, or Rp1,370 trillion (at an exchange rate of Rp16,310 per US dollar), is needed to elevate Indonesia's healthcare quality to par with Malaysia's.
Budi highlighted that this huge sum is nearly three times the current Health Ministry budget. Despite this, he noted, healthcare spending in Indonesia continues to grow disproportionately to the national economic growth.
"The growth in healthcare expenditure consistently exceeds our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth," the minister said at the 2025 APAC Health and Life Sciences Summit - Spotlight Indonesia forum in Jakarta, as quoted from the Health Ministry's website on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.
Given this fiscal reality, Budi emphasized the necessity of a technological transformation in healthcare equipment to foster more efficient health services. "If we keep increasing spending without efficiency, the system won't be sustainable. It's like a household where expenses rise by 50 percent but income only increases by 8 percent. This is clearly not balanced," he explained.
As an example of an adoptable technology, Budi cited the PCSK9 inhibitor, a new-generation cholesterol drug that requires only a single injection but has been proven to significantly lower cholesterol levels. Budi mentioned plans to implement this drug in 500 hospitals across Indonesia.
"This is a more efficient solution compared to expensive conventional therapy that needs to be taken daily," he said.
Furthermore, the Health Minister highlighted other promising technologies, including robotic surgery and artificial intelligence (AI). According to him, these innovations possess the potential to expedite diagnoses, shorten operation times, and reduce hospital stays, ultimately decreasing costs while elevating service quality.
"Technology does not just assist doctors; it also saves the state budget. We must start thinking about building an intelligent system, not just a large one," Budi affirmed.
To realize this vision of transforming healthcare services, Budi predicts that Indonesia's total healthcare spending will reach US$240 billion, or approximately Rp3,914 trillion, within the next five years. About one-third of this budget will be allocated to healthcare equipment procurement and medical technology development.
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