Many believe the Health Law can improve Indonesia's healthcare services.

The Health Law (UU Kesehatan) was passed by the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) on July 11, 2023.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi stated that one of the law's priorities is to improve healthcare services.

"The focus of this law's changes is to improve access to and quality of services for the public," said Budi Gunadi in a Ministry of Health podcast titled *UU Kesehatan: Apa Saja Manfaatnya?* (Health Law: What are its benefits?), Monday (July 31, 2023).

So, what is the Indonesian public's response to this?

Based on a survey by the Kurious-Katadata Insight Center (KIC), a majority or 57.6% of respondents believe that the Health Law can improve healthcare services in Indonesia.

The details show that 45.5% of respondents said they were certain, and another 12.1% were very certain.

Meanwhile, 27.3% of respondents were uncertain that the Health Law could improve healthcare services. This percentage consists of 5.7% of respondents who were very uncertain and 21.6% who were uncertain.

Furthermore, 15.1% of respondents answered "don't know".

The Health Law, which is expected to improve healthcare services, also mandates that every local government (pemda) maximize the development of primary healthcare facilities, such as posyandu (community health centers) and puskesmas (community health centers). This includes providing adequate human resources, facilities, infrastructure, and medical equipment.

"The public can participate in the development of primary and advanced healthcare facilities," reads Article 29 Paragraph 1 of the Health Law.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi also hopes that puskesmas will become the first place people go when they are sick and can detect diseases in patients early.

The Kurious-KIC survey involved 622 respondents, with 53.8% female and 46.2% male.

More than half of the respondents were from Java (excluding Jakarta) (63.6%), followed by DKI Jakarta (15.4%) and Sumatra (12.1%).

The proportion of respondents from Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali-Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku-Papua ranged from 0.9% to 3%.

Most respondents were aged 25-34 years (33.1%), followed by the 35-44 year (32.3%) and 45-54 year (25.1%) groups.

The survey was conducted from August 3-10, 2023, using the computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) method, with a margin of error of approximately 3.8% and a 95% confidence level.

(See also: Many Indonesian Citizens Believe the Health Law Will Address the Shortage of Specialist Doctors in Indonesia)