What is the Availability of Doctors in Indonesia?

Over a six-year period, the number of medical personnel, namely doctors, in Indonesia has increased. According to the Ministry of Health's data, in 2010 there were 25,333 general practitioners, 8,403 specialist doctors, and 8,731 dentists. By 2015, these numbers had risen to 41,026 general practitioners, 47,894 specialist doctors, and 11,686 dentists. During this period, the number of specialist doctors saw the largest increase. In fact, since 2014, specialist doctors have dominated the number of doctors in the country.

Although the availability of doctors has increased and the doctor-to-population ratio in Indonesia is met, the distribution of doctors remains concentrated on Java Island and major cities. Of the total number of doctors in 2015 (100,561), 53.98%, or approximately 54,281, were from Java Island. The lowest availability of doctors was in Maluku and Papua, with only 2,439 doctors.

The challenge of achieving the ideal doctor-to-workload ratio is not only based on the Indonesian population being concentrated on Sumatra and Java Islands. The situation is different in Eastern Indonesia, where the problems lie in the vast area, difficult terrain, and dispersed population. Medical professionals also tend to choose to work in areas that offer high incentives and adequate facilities to support their profession, namely in major cities.