JAKARTA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is targeting to build 66 state hospitals in some rural regions which have no type C hospitals with 32 of which to be completed by the end of 2025, said the country's Health Ministry.
In the Southeast Asian country, general hospitals are classified as Class A, B, C, or D, based on the number of inpatient beds. A type C hospital provides both basic secondary and primary care services, helping reduce the burden on larger hospitals.
"We will build 32 state hospitals in certain remote border areas and rural islands, and now we are set to have groundbreaking ceremonies for 10 hospitals gradually until late March," the ministry's health service director-general, Azhar Jaya, told local media here on Wednesday.
According to him, most of the hospitals were to be built in the eastern regions of the archipelago and the medical equipment will have to comply with the country's policy on local content requirement.
Jaya also said that the construction and equipment budget will be sourced from the central government as well as special allocation funds, adding that well-trained medical practitioners were readied to work in rural areas.
"Hopefully, in this way, communities in the border areas and rural islands can feel the meaning of the state's presence in taking care of their health there," said Jaya.
On Friday, the Health Ministry will conduct a groundbreaking ceremony in Southwest Sumba situated in the eastern province of East Nusa Tenggara. ■
