Antara News·Indonesia·Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 10:53 AM UTC

Health Ministry expands healthcare services in Papua Highlands

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Yudhi Efendi, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Wamena, Papua Highlands (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health is strengthening healthcare services across Indonesia, including in the Papua Highlands region, to improve the quality of public health services.

The ministry’s Director of Referral Healthcare Facilities, Ghotama Airlangga, emphasized in a statement on Saturday that healthcare services should be distributed evenly across Indonesia.

“The Ministry of Health’s future program is to provide equitable healthcare throughout the country, especially in the Papua Highlands region and other parts of Papua,” Airlangga said.

According to him, the ministry is facilitating partnerships between all regional general hospitals in the Papua Highlands and major hospitals across Indonesia to provide treatment for cancer, heart disease, stroke, uronephrology, maternal and child health, tuberculosis, pre-existing diseases (EID), diabetes, gastrohepatology, mental health, and eye diseases.

“We hope that in the future, healthcare services for heart disease, stroke, and other serious illnesses will no longer need to be referred outside the Papua Highlands and can be handled here,” he said.

Airlangga emphasized that the program is part of efforts to ensure equitable healthcare across Indonesia through a mentoring approach that supports healthcare workers in the Papua Highlands and enables them to manage chronic diseases.

“We greatly appreciate the support of the Governor of the Papua Highlands for this mentoring program, which will help further improve and advance healthcare services in the region,” he continued.

He added that eight regional general hospitals in the Papua Highlands will have their accreditation upgraded from Class D to Class C to support the delivery of optimal healthcare services.

“Class C hospitals generally serve as referral centers for community health centers (Puskesmas). These facilities provide more comprehensive specialist medical services, particularly in the four basic specialties, internal medicine, including cardiology, pediatrics, surgery and obstetrics and gynecology,” he explained.

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