VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin emphasized that the transformation of health technology is one of the focuses of the government, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The president has given me three assignments. The first is to conduct vaccinations, overcome the pandemic, and conduct major reforms and transformations in the health sector -- the transformation of health technology," the minister stated during an online broadcast on Thursday.

Sadikin remarked that the presence of digital technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT), would drastically change activities in the health sector.

"The help of AI, big data, and IoT, will drastically change the constellation of the health industry, starting from diagnosis to testing, and screening, everything will change, including the delivery," the minister emphasized.

"Currently, we still see many players in the delivery (sector), such as telemedicine, teleconsultation. However, with the data integration that we plan to conduct later, it is hoped that thousands and even millions of CT scans and tens of millions of MRI data would be recorded," he remarked.

Sadikin expressed optimism that the role of technology companies would help the public in accessing health services.

"We use cloud services and maps, and I am optimistic of better communication. For instance, we can also disseminate information, educate, and promote health (industry and services) through YouTube. Thus, (health information) would not only be obtained (by the public) through books and newspapers but also through Google and YouTube," the minister remarked.

Earlier, at the 2021 Indonesia Digital Conference (IDC) last week, Sadikin noted that health technology had become one of the pillars in digital transformation that refers to the five targets of National Health Insurance.

For the development of health technology, the Ministry of Health is currently preparing three integration projects: Data System, Service Application, and Ecosystem Development.  (Antaranews)