Indonesia Puskesmas Program

Indonesia's national network of community health centers, known as puskesmas, an acronym for Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakat, introduced in 1968 to extend basic health services to individuals and communities across the country's vast archipelago. The concept was designed by Johannes Leimena, Indonesia's third Minister of Health, and put into practice under his successor Gerrit Augustinus Siwabessy during the New Order period, with the network expanding through the 1970s until every subdistrict with a population of roughly 30,000 to 50,000 had its own puskesmas. Smaller satellite centers, called pustu, were added at the village level starting in 1979 to serve populations of up to a few thousand people, and the network has grown to more than 10,000 puskesmas nationwide, forming the backbone of Indonesia's primary health care delivery system.