Jakarta, Nov. 25 -- Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin emphasized that good access to healthcare is critical to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Indonesia.

Speaking at the 1st National Forum of the Indonesian Health Council here on Tuesday, Sadikin noted Indonesia's UHC coverage currently reaches 57 percent according to WHO standards, which measure access to quality healthcare at affordable costs.

"Having a health card is meaningless if, when you arrive at a hospital, services are unavailable, equipment is missing, or doctors are absent. That means UHC is still low," he said.

Referring to the deaths of Irene Sokoy and her unborn child, allegedly due to multiple hospitals refusing treatment, the minister stressed that every...