President Prabowo Receives Health Minister’s Report on Covid-19, Health Program Achievements

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin gives a press statement after meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Photo by Bureau of Press, Media, and Information (BPMI) of Presidential Secretariat)

President Prabowo Subianto summoned Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin to Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday (06/03). In the meeting, the Minister of Health reported current issues on national health, starting from Covid-19 to free medical check-up program.

Related to Covid-19 issue, Budi called on the public not to panic, despite the increasing Covid-19 cases. “These [the new Covid variants] are relatively non-deadly variants. There is no need to worry about such variants, so as to avoid public panic,” the Minister said.

In addition, the Minister also announced the updates on the development of priority programs, such as building 66 new hospitals. He explained that the initial five-year target will be accelerated in two years aiming as many as 32 hospitals to be built in 2025.

“This year, 32 hospitals will be built, next year, 34 hospitals. Sixteen out of the 32 hospitals have had groundbreaking ceremony and are expected to be completed this year. The rest will be scheduled for groundbreaking as soon as possible. There is only small budget reallocation which the President has to approve, and he has finally approved it. No additional budget needed, only some adjustments in budget posts for a quick solution.” the Minister explained.

Furthermore, free medical check-up, which is part of the President’s programs in health sector, also shows a significant development. Until early June 2025, Minister of Health said that 7.8 million of Indonesian people have received the service.

“There are 200 thousand receiving the service per day. So, in a month, there are 5 million people who receive free medical check-up,” the Health Minister added.

According to the Minister, the program will be extended to schools this month and next month, targeting 50 million of Indonesian people. The Minister also explained a number of issues identified during the free medical check-up processes.

“I explained that babies are prone to have congenital heart disease carried since they were born. Meanwhile, toddlers tend to have problems with their teeth, and adults and and elders are most likely to suffer from hypertension and diabetes

The Minister of Health also reported a positive development in tuberculosis (TBC) screening. The increasing availability of affordable detection device makes early detection possible to be carried out extensively.

“From 1 million people having been detected, it is expected to reach all the people. So, the earlier the disease is detected, the sooner the patients can be treated properly. We also gave report on new medical treatment which is much cheaper. We have apllied the new one,” Budi said. (Bureau of Press, Media, and Information (BPMI) of Presidential Secretariat) (AW/TM)