In the Safe Cities Index 2015, launched by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta is ranked at the bottom of the index. The Safe Cities Index, which covers 50 large cities worldwide (selected on factors which include regional representation and availability of data), based its ranking on an average score across four categories: digital security, health security, infrastructure safety and personal safety. In 2014, data from the Jakarta Police showed that 213 out of every 100,000 Jakartans were victims of various crimes.

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After weeks of uncertainty, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced on Monday (17/11) that prices of subsidized fuels (gasoline and diesel) are to be raised by IDR 2,000 (USD $0.16) per liter starting from midnight. Gasoline (premium) is to be raised from IDR 6,500 to IDR 8,500 per liter, while diesel will be raised from IDR 5,500 to IDR 7,500 per liter. Earlier it was speculated that an IDR 3,000 per liter price hike would be announced. However, as global oil prices have declined sharply, this was considered an unnecessary burden for the people.

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The World Bank released a news update which states that poverty reduction in Indonesia continues to slow down, with only a reduction of 0.7 percentage points over the last two years, or the smallest decline in the last decade. Meanwhile the institution says that inequality also increased in recent years, potentially disrupting social cohesion and hence jeopardizing the gains from solid economic growth, which has helped to reduce the poverty rate to 11.3 percent in 2014, compared to 24 percent in 1999.

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Indonesia Investments has updated the company profile of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk. Kalbe Farma is the largest listed pharmaceutical company in Indonesia and Southeast Asia (listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange/IDX). The company’s main business focus rests on four divisions: prescription pharmaceuticals, consumer health products, nutritionals as well as distribution & logistics. Its a leading provider of “comprehensive healthcare solutions”, from pharmaceuticals, nutrition, health foods and beverages to medical devices, including primary healthcare service.

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Phapros, subsidiary of state-owned Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia, intends to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2015 by offering 10 to 20 percent of its enlarged capital to the public. Through this corporate action, Phapros, a pharmaceutical products manufacturer, aims to raise IDR 500 billion (USD $42.3 million) which will be used to finance the company's capital expenditure in the next two years. The company expects to grow on the implementation of Indonesia’s social security program per 1 January 2014.

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Today (Saturday 05/04), Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of the Microsoft Corporation as well as the world's richest person (with a net worth of USD $76 billion according to Forbes), arrives in Jakarta for the launch of the Indonesia Health Fund. This fund, which is established through a cooperation between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Tahir Foundation, aims to combat diseases such as HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, polio and malaria (both in Indonesia and outside Indonesia).

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The World Bank's latest report discusses healthcare. Indonesia is one of many countries that aims to achieve universal health coverage for its population. However, several challenges need to be faced and overcome in order to reach this goal, which the country hopes to achieve by 2019. Although health insurance coverage has increased significantly in Indonesia over the last decade, almost 60 percent of Indonesia's population still remains without any coverage, and out-of-pocket spending remains high even among those with coverage.

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On 5 April 2014, the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private foundation, will travel to Indonesia to join Southeast Asia's largest economy in its combat against malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS as well as to support the country's birth control program through donating a total of USD $100 million. The foundation will also conduct fundraising in Indonesia by inviting various Indonesian businessmen to donate funds for the eradication of aforementioned diseases.

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It is interesting to take a quick look at Indonesia’s national healthcare program (in Indonesian: Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, JKN) that is managed by the government’s Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan).

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At the start of 2014 the government of Indonesia launched its ambitious universal health coverage (UHC) program. This program aims to ensure that all Indonesians (whether rich or poor) have access to health services (of sufficient quality), while also ensuring that the Indonesian people do not suffer financial hardship when paying for these health services. In other words, the program aims to deliver affordable healthcare to all citizens.

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The Indonesian government launched its universal healthcare program (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, or JKN) on 1 January 2014. This government-subsidized program aims to cover all Indonesian citizens - providing them with access to a wide range of health services – by the year 2019.

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Vincent Harijanto, Head of the Indonesian Pharmaceutical Association (GP Farmasi) business development committee, said about 95 percent of raw materials used in Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry need to be imported from abroad. This dependence on imports causes several problems, for example prices of pharmaceutical products are relatively high on the Indonesian market, while Indonesian pharmaceutical companies (and Indonesian consumers) can suddenly face rising prices in times of rupiah depreciation.

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A new report shows Indonesia lacks behind its regional peers in terms of innovation. This is a concern because it means Indonesia's workforce is not equipped with the skills, knowledge or health that are necessary to be innovation-driven. Therefore, the Indonesian government needs to remain focused on enhancing the quality of education and healthcare. Innovation is widely regarded as a driver of economic growth and development.

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Exports of pharmaceutical products from Indonesia have declined due to increasing competition from China on the international market. Chinese pharmaceutical companies dominate export markets supported by China's low production cost environment and the availability of raw materials at home. However, despite this situation, the Indonesian Pharmacy Association (GP Farmasi Indonesia) remains optimistic that Indonesia's pharmaceutical exports can climb in 2017.

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State-controlled pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma is expected to show steadily improving corporate earnings in the years ahead supported by Indonesia's universal healthcare scheme (in Indonesian: Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional or JKN) that was implemented by the social security agency Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial Kesehatan (BPJS) in early 2014. The scheme aims to provide all Indonesian citizens with access to a wide range of health services. Obviously, local pharmaceutical companies are in a great position to benefit from this program.

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Although Indonesia's National Health Insurance program is not without problems, it does benefit Indonesian hospitals and makes investment in the nation's hospital sector attractive, particularly as the Indonesian government targets to provide universal health care to all Indonesians by the year 2019. Reportedly, those hospitals that receive patients that fall under Indonesia's Healthcare and Social Security Agency (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial, or BPJS Kesehatan) are the busiest hospitals in Indonesia at the moment.

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Companies active in the pharmaceutical industry of Indonesia need to find strategies to overcome sharp rupiah depreciation. Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry is still - to a large extent - dependent on the import of raw materials, hence a weakening rupiah raises the costs of imports thus eroding profit margins. Since May 2013, when the US Federal Reserve started to hint at monetary tightening, the US dollar has experienced bullish momentum. Between the May 2013 and July 2015, the rupiah depreciated around 37 percent against the US dollar.

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A new World Bank report, entitled “The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Indonesia”, says that 37.2 percent of Indonesian children under the age of five - or 8.4 million children - are stunted (meaning excessively small for their age) and suffer from chronic malnutrition. As such, Indonesia has the fifth-highest level of stunting in the world. The report also states that 19.6 percent of Indonesian children under five years old (approximately 4.4 million) are underweight as a result of malnutrition. Public awareness about this issue is low in Indonesia.

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