BRIEF

Supporting Health Programs in Indonesia

indonesia health program

Indonesia stands as a significant economic player both globally and within the East Asia and Pacific region. As the world's fourth most populous country, Indonesia boasts a diverse and dynamic economy that has demonstrated resilience and growth over the past decades.  

In terms of the Human Capital Index, Indonesia has made noteworthy progress, reflecting its ambitious efforts to enhance health and education outcomes. Such improvements are critical as Indonesia continues to strive for greater economic competitiveness and become a high-income country by 2045. Efforts to build stronger health systems, improve nutrition, and reduce stunting are at the forefront of government actions.

Indonesia’s Health Priorities

Indonesia has been focusing on improving the health of its citizens, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite its large population of 270 million and diverse geography, Indonesia was one of the first countries to administer 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. After the pandemic, the country continues to strengthen its health sector, focusing on primary care, referral care, health system resilience, and digital health initiatives.

The pandemic shed light on the urgent need to strengthen the country’s health system to better prepare for and respond to any future health emergencies. In response, the Ministry of Health (MoH) launched the Health System Transformation Agenda (HSTA) in 2022. This agenda built on six pillars: primary health care, referral care, health resilience, human resources, health financing, and technology.

Another key focus is enhancing nutrition and reducing stunting among children which has been a persistent challenge in Indonesia. Recognizing the long-term implications of  stunting on cognitive development, economic productivity, and overall quality of life, the government has rolled out comprehensive strategies such as the  National Strategy to Accelerate Stunting Prevention which has allocated significant resources for coordinated action across ministries to tackle the underlying factors of stunting.

Village services to prevent stunting

 

Partnership with the World Bank

The World Bank has been a steadfast partner in Indonesia’s ambitious journey to ensure better health and nutrition for its citizens. Aligned with Indonesia’s health priorities, the World Bank has committed over US$5 billion in financing for health and nutrition since 2018. It is also providing technical assistance and policy advice to accelerate efforts to elevate healthcare standards, accessibility, and overall public health outcomes.

  • With World Bank support under the 2023 Indonesia UHC Development Policy Loan,  Indonesia passed the Omnibus Health Law formalizing commitments under HSTA to expand quality health coverage and build resilience. By 2024, the national health insurance scheme, Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional covered over 79% of the population, enhancing financial protection and health service quality.
  • The I-SPHERE project addresses regional disparities in healthcare access and quality, especially in the remote Eastern Indonesia region. More than 90% of community health centers (“Puskesmas”) in Eastern Indonesia are now achieving national service quality accreditation (as compared to less than 30% in 2018).
  • Through the Strengthening National Tuberculosis (TB) Response Program, Indonesia is focusing on  timely identification and better treatment of TB. Implemented in partnership with the Global Fund and in technical support from the Gates Foundation, the project aims to strengthen Indonesia’s primary healthcare response and achieve its goal to eliminate TB cases. Indonesia has the second-highest TB incidence worldwide and accounts for 8.5% of the global burden of TB.
  • The flagship 2-phase Investing in Nutrition and Early Years program (INEY 1 and INEY2) is among the World Bank’s largest investments in nutrition in the world, with over US$ 1 billion in financing. It focuses on engaging leaders at the national, regional, district, and village levels to improve the health communities through better nutrition, early childhood education, family planning, water and sanitation, and social assistance. The program has contributed to significant progress: from 2018 to 2023, Indonesia slashed stunting prevalence among 5-year-olds from 30.8% to 21.5%, placing Indonesia among countries with the fastest pace of reduction in child undernutrition. The initiative reached over 20 million children under 2 and trained more than 74,000 community volunteers to aid in village planning, budgeting and reporting. Co-financing from Global Financing Facility (GFF) and Gavi, with technical assistance from the Gates Foundation and the Tanoto Foundation, INEY is playing a key role in helping to converge sectors, levels of government, and development partners.
  • To implement the ambitious targets of HSTA, Indonesia has partnered with the World Bank (US$1.5 billion), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (US$1 billion) and Asian Development Bank (US$650 million) as joint co-financiers, and Islamic Development Bank (US$846 million) through parallel financing – to support its health transformation agenda through the Health System Strengthening (HSS) Project. Through these partnerships, the project focuses on expanding access to life saving medical and laboratory equipment in public health facilities in rural and urban areas. It also focuses on innovations in procurement to expand equitable healthcare access and improve health outcomes aligned with Indonesia's commitment to building a robust health sector that meets the needs of its diverse population.