JAKARTA - The Indonesian government targets to lower import of pharmaceutical raw materials by 15% in 2021.
According to the Ministry of Health’s Director-General of Health Equipment and Pharmaceuticals Dr Engko Sosialine Magdalene, Indonesia imports 95% of raw materials for medicine in the country from China. However, she expects that the figure can be lowered with 11 health industries capable of producing raw materials for medicine.
“This is a significant milestone. They (health industries) can produce atorvastatin, simvastatin, erythropoietin, clopidogrel, insulin, and cephalosporin (antibiotics and its derivatives),” Dr Magdalene told Bisnis.com recently.
“If all of those can be produced by the 11 industries, according to our calculation by 2021 Indonesia can lower import of raw materials for medicine by 15%.”
According to data from the Ministry of Health, health investment was recorded at Rp 53.76 trillion in 2017 and surged to Rp 53.95 trillion in 2018. Throughout January to October 10, 2019, health investment has reached Rp 60.9 trillion. (MS)