The Ratio of Community Health Centers (Puskesmas) per Subdistrict in 11 Provinces Remains Below the National Average

Many community health centers (Puskesmas) in various regions of Indonesia remain inaccessible to the surrounding communities. This is reflected in the disparity in ratios between urban areas and eastern Indonesia. Two provinces in eastern Indonesia still have a Puskesmas-to-subdistrict ratio of less than one.

According to the Ministry of Health, a ratio below 1 indicates that not all subdistricts have a Puskesmas, and that there are challenging geographical conditions and a generally low socioeconomic status in those areas. This means that access to healthcare services still needs significant improvement in regions with a Puskesmas ratio below one.

These provinces are West Papua, with a Puskesmas-to-subdistrict ratio of 0.7, followed by Papua with a ratio of 0.8. The low number of Puskesmas in these two provinces is due to difficult geographical conditions and the generally low socioeconomic status of the population.

The average Puskesmas-to-subdistrict ratio in Indonesia is 1.4. Eleven out of 34 provinces have a ratio below the national average. Provinces with a Puskesmas ratio below the national average include Southeast Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, and North Maluku, each with a ratio of 1.3. Then there are Aceh, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, and Riau Islands, each with a ratio of 1.2.

Furthermore, North Sulawesi has a ratio of 1.1 and North Kalimantan has a ratio of 1.0. Lastly, as mentioned earlier, Papua and West Papua also fall below the average. Conversely, there is a significant disparity with the ratio in the capital city. The Puskesmas-to-subdistrict ratio in Jakarta reaches 7.2, indicating that there are approximately seven Puskesmas in each subdistrict of Jakarta.