Indonesia’s health minister is facing mounting calls for his removal as his deepening rift with the country’s medical professionals risks undermining healthcare reform and weakening the legitimacy of future policies, according to analysts.
Criticism of Budi Gunadi Sadikin has surged in recent weeks, with two of the nation’s leading medical faculties – at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta and Padjadjaran University in West Java – joining the chorus of discontent.
At the centre of the dispute is the health ministry’s perceived encroachment into the domain of professional medical bodies, including the reassignment of specialist doctors and the appointment of members to so-called medical collegia – self-regulating organisations that oversee the standards of specialist medical training and practice.
Under Indonesia’s revised health law, passed in 2023, these collegia were placed under the supervision of the Indonesian Medical Council, which now reports directly to the president. The move was framed as a bid to streamline governance, but many in the medical field view it as political interference.
“We urge the government to re-evaluate health policies that are not pro-people but pro-momentary interests,” Wawan Mulyawan, chairman of the Alumni Association of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Indonesia, said on May 20, as cited by news magazine Tempo.
He called on President Prabowo Subianto to consider replacing Budi, “who clearly has the potential to damage the ecosystem of medical education and reduce the quality of health services”.
