Indonesia, Nov. 18 -- Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin emphasized the government's commitment to accelerating the provision of specialist doctors in all regions through the expansion of teaching hospitals to address the healthcare gap in the next two decades.

"Indonesia currently has a shortage of around 70,000 specialist doctors, based on the 30-year healthcare needs projections compiled in collaboration with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)," he said on Tuesday.

He stated that the annual output of specialist doctors in Indonesia is only around 2,700, significantly lower than required and lagging behind other countries.

For instance, South Korea, with just one-sixth of Indonesia's population, produces 3,000 sp...