REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono emphasized on the benefits of the Social Security Provider Body for Health (BPJS) in his state-of-the-nation address here on Friday.

The president delivered his annual address during a joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) in conjunction with the 69th anniversary of Indonesian independence.

"Since the launch of Community Health Program in 2005, 2014 has become a historical milestone for the Indonesian people with the establishment of BPJS on January 1, 2014," the president noted.

He pointed out that under the system, the participants of BPJS will have the rights to access health and medical treatment services, for whatever the diseases they have.

"This is a public policy that is not only innovative but also revolutionary," the president noted.

"I am fully aware that the implementation of BPJS in the future will still experience challenges, mainly related to human, financial, or logistic resources," he went on.

He expressed conviction that with hard work the challenges could be addressed.

Yudhoyono claimed that Indonesia boasted the largest health insurance system in the world, and up to early August 2014, BPJS has provided health insurance for more than 126.4 million people.

"We hope that with strenuous efforts, in 2019, every Indonesian will have wider access to health insurance," he said.

He added that smart, skillful, and healthy human resources will become Indonesia's major assets in initiating large projects of Indonesian development called the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI).

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