The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) of the Republic of Indonesia emphasized the urgency of providing inclusive and non-discriminatory healthcare services. The primary focus of this policy is aimed at providing optimal treatment access for vulnerable groups, especially those living with tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, who have often been hindered by various social obstacles.
Director of Vulnerable Group Healthcare Services at Kemenkes, Imran Pambudi, highlighted that the obstacles faced by this group are not only medical but also structural. Negative public stigma and the risk of violence are major deterrent factors that make them reluctant or feel unsafe when accessing public health facilities.
Furthermore, Imran presented data regarding the success of antiretroviral therapy, which is now able to extend the life expectancy of people living with HIV (PLHIV). This phenomenon has led to an increase in the number of elderly PLHIV in Indonesia, where currently around 7.7 percent, or approximately 39,000 individuals, are over the age of 50.
In response to this trend, Kemenkes is making adjustments to the national health system to make it more adaptive to the complexity of comorbidities in elderly patients. These steps include managing cardiometabolic diseases, cognitive impairment, and increasingly complex drug interactions to ensure patients' quality of life is maintained through 2030.
