Jakarta – Minister of Health (People) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that as many as 600 general practitioners, specialist doctors and nurses will be sent to hospitals and community health centers in areas affected by floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra. Medical personnel will be sent on a rotating basis every two weeks. This was conveyed by Budi when he submitted a report to President Prabowo Subianto at the Plenary Cabinet Session (SCP) at the State Palace, Jakarta on Monday (15/12/2025). Budi said 450 of the 600 doctors were ready to be deployed this week. “Our first group will send 600 people. As many as 450 of them are ready to leave this week,” Budi said. Scroll TO CONTINUE CONTENT He said that the Ministry of Health has collected data on the needs of general practitioners, specialist doctors and nurses in all places affected by the disaster. The Ministry of Health will coordinate with the TNI for technical deviations to disaster areas. “If you transport them with a Hercules, you can do it, so they can feel Hercules,” said Budi. Budi said the doctors came from various campuses and hospitals across Indonesia. The Ministry of Health opens recruitment through professional organizations and medical faculties, such as Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (UI), Muhammadiyah University and Nahdlatul Ulama. “We’re opening it up wide. We have a volunteer database,” he said. Budi added that the humanitarian mission of medical personnel is analogous to military operations for TNI soldiers. “So an award will be given to you, as if you participated in a humanitarian operation,” he said. Apart from that, the Minister of Health confirmed that all hospitals affected by the disaster in the Sumatra region are now back in operation. The services that opened first were the Emergency Room (ED) and operating theatre, before gradually returning to providing full services. For your information, the latest development is that the number of identified deaths in the disaster areas in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra has increased to 1,030 people as of today. “The death toll has increased by 14 people, from 1,016 last Sunday, to 1,030 people now,” head of the BNPB disaster data, information and communication center, Abdul Muhari, said in a press conference on Monday (15/12). Watch the video ‘Report to Prabowo, Health Minister to send 600 doctors to Sumatra disaster’: (fca/maa)