Free Medical Check-up Program to Launch on February 10

The Government is set to roll out a free medical check-up program next Monday (02/10) at community healthcare centers and clinics partnering with national healthcare security agency BPJS Kesehatan, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said.

“We discussed updates on the free medical check-up program. The President decided that it can start at community healthcare centers and clinics on February 10,” he said in a press statement following a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (02/05).

According to Budi, the program was designed to cover the entire population of Indonesia, from newborns to senior citizens.

Budi pointed out that the program will be implemented gradually with a mechanism based on age groups. Children under the age of six and above school age can have their check-up on their birthday or no later than one month following their birthday. Meanwhile, medical check-ups for school-age children will be carried out when they enter school.

“It will be conducted at 10,000 community healthcare centers and 15,000 clinics that have already partnered with BPJS,” he said.

Budi also stated that the type of check-up varies according to age group, with six types of screening for newborns, eight types for toddlers, 13 types for children in elementary, secondary, and high school, and 19 types for adults and senior citizens.

“We also have mental screening. We never used to screen it before, but now we will provide it to students, including elementary school students, because the most recent healthcare survey results showed that many—one in ten people here have an anxiety disorder or depression, so we must screen it too,” he said, adding that the program includes cancer screening for people above 40 years old, focused on breast and cervical cancer for women, and lung and colorectal cancer for men.

Budi mentioned that the program requires a large budget, which is currently being adjusted from an initial allocation of Rp4.7 trillion due to various state expenditure priorities.

“If it is highly necessary, we will ask for an increase. As for now, the President has many spending priorities,” he said while ensuring that the budget for the initial phase is available. (DH/MMB)