Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia is in a great position to capitalise the global need for nurses which has reached 6.4 million, according to the Ministry of Health.
The ministry and the Ministry of Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (P2MI) are trying to accommodate this from a regulatory perspective.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told media on December 24 that sending health workers abroad could help meet the global need and improve the workers' quality of life.
For example, Indonesian health workers in Japan can earn around 30 million IDR (1,788 USD) and those in Germany, can make up to 50 million IDR (2,981 USD) per month.
According to the minister, Indonesia has 38 health polytechnics, which are run by the Health Ministry. In the past five years, only 2,000 health workers were sent abroad, or an average of 400 people per year. The policy of sending health workers to work abroad will bring a lot of economic value and professional experience to Indonesia's workforce. However, the country set a limit to send less than 10,000 health workers abroad to ensure medical care services in the country.
Meanwhile, P2MI Minister Abdul Kadir Karding said both ministries are trying to meet the global standards for migrant worker placements, for example, in terms of health checks.
He said they are trying to simplify the procedures, similar to other countries.
He said Indonesia is also trying to standardise health check prices between regions. The P2MI will find a suitable financing model that does not burden prospective migrant workers.
The P2MI Minister said that Indonesia will prepare the healthcare workforce to meet requirements of developed countries such as Germany and Japan./.
