FILE PHOTO: Then Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto (right) speaking to physicians during his visit to the radiology room in Sanglah Hospital in Bali on Dec 28, 2019. - Antara
JAKARTA: Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin is considering popular tourist destinations such as Bali and Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara as strategic locations to develop Indonesia’s medical tourism industry, amid efforts to reduce the number of citizens seeking medical treatment abroad.
Budi said that each year, an estimated one to two million Indonesians travel abroad for medical treatment, primarily to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.
“Indonesia loses approximately Rp 163 trillion [US$10 billion] annually in capital outflow, equivalent to nearly one per cent of the country’s gross domestic product [GDP] last year,” he said on Thursday (June 12) as quoted by Kompas.
Budi said the massive capital outflow underscores the urgent need to develop high-quality medical tourism within Indonesia, particularly in popular destinations such as Bali and Labuan Bajo, to encourage citizens to seek treatment at domestic healthcare facilities.
“This way, people can spend their money not only on enjoying the beach, art or culture during their vacation, but also on accessing quality healthcare services. Such a strategy could also help attract international travelers to participate in Indonesia’s medical tourism,” he said.
The Health Ministry estimates that Indonesia’s medical tourism sector has the potential to contribute up to Rp 1.36 trillion to the national GDP annually, a figure expected to rise in line with increasing life expectancy and the country’s growing aging population.
According to Budi, this potential could boost Indonesia’s current GDP by approximately 6 percent. The government is currently developing two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) focused on tourism and healthcare, the Sanur SEZ in Bali and the Batam SEZ in Riau Islands, as part of efforts to boost the country's medical tourism industry.
The Sanur SEZ will become Indonesia’s first integrated medical tourism complex and, according to the government, the first and largest of its kind in Asia. The facility will feature hospitals, specialist clinics, medical research centres, hotels and convention centres. It is scheduled to launch later this month.
The government has collaborated with leading medical institutions from Germany, Japan and the US to establish a centre of excellence within the Sanur SEZ. The complex will be managed by state-owned tourism company InJourney and is projected to generate Rp 20 trillion in state revenue by 2045.
The Batam SEZ will span approximately 47 hectares and will include a hospital, nursing academy, convention hall, doctors’ housing and dormitories, hotels, shops, cottages, bungalows, a retirement village and a clinic.
The complex, to be managed by the Batam Development Agency (BP Batam), is expected to open in 2026 and aims to attract Rp 6.91 trillion in investment by 2032. Apollo Hospitals, the largest private healthcare provider in India, is the main investor in the project.
According to BP Batam, the company is renowned for delivering international-quality medical care at competitive prices, with specialties in oncology, cardiology, neurology and robotic-assisted surgeries.
Besides developing SEZs, the government is also working to increase the number of medical specialists in the country to reduce outbound medical tourism. To achieve this goal, the government has recently introduced hospital-based residency programmes, expanded scholarships for medical specialist training and streamlined the doctor licensing process.
Indonesia has among the lowest number of doctors per capita in the world, with 0.47 general physicians and 0.19 medical specialists for every 1,000 people. Making matters worse, some 67 per cent of the nation’s specialists practice in Java or Bali, with higher concentrations in hospitals in major cities, which can offer bigger paychecks.
As of April, around 34 per cent of regional general hospitals (RSUD) nationwide could not fulfill the government’s minimum of seven types of medical specialists: Pediatricians, obstetrician/gynecologists, surgeons, internists, anesthesiologists, radiologists and clinical pathologists. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
