Government to finance education of specialist doctors, VP says

Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the government would finance the education of specialist doctors in an effort to improve the capability and human resources of Indonesian medical practitioners.

"The government will pay for the education of specialists in arder to increase the number of doctors who specialize in particular areas of medicine," the vice president said in a dialog with M Djamil Hospital medical staff here on Friday.

Kalla said the policy would be adopted by the government to improve the capability and human resources of the country`s medical experts.

The vice president admitted that education of specialist doctors in Indonesia was costly and only a small number of people could afford it.

But in his statement, the vice president did not mention the amount of funds the government would make available to finance the education of specialist doctors.

He only said in the 2007-2008 State Budget, the government would appropriate "very large sums" for the health, infrastructure and education sectors.

"Therefore, doctors no longer need to run to and fro to find funding sources to continue their specialist education because the government will pay for it," Kalla said.