Carlos Paath – The government has hailed the passage of new legislation that it says will tackle the chronic shortage of doctors serving Indonesia's rural and underdeveloped areas.

Education Minister Mohammad Nuh said in Jakarta on Thursday that the passage of the bill on medical education by the House of Representatives earlier in the day marked a key step toward boosting the ranks of the country's health workers.

"We're at a point now where most doctors are concentrated in urban areas, while rural and remote areas have a severe shortage of health workers," he said. "That's why it's so important to have this new legislation in place."

Key among the provisions in the new law is greater access for low-income students and those living in underdeveloped areas for a place in medical school.

Rohmani, a member of House Commission X, which oversees education matters and deliberated the new legislation, said this measure was aimed at "evening out the distribution" of medical workers.

"Article 27 of the law is meant to guarantee a place in medical or dental school for applicants based on the needs of their home region, the local poverty rate and gender equality," he said. "The law is also designed to give students who meet the criteria greater access to scholarships and other financial aid."

Rohmani, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), added that some of the scholarships would be contingent on the candidate doctors serving for a specified period in an underdeveloped region.

Nuh said this program was one of many meant to induce doctors to work in under-served areas, and attributed the concentration of doctors in cities to the need to recoup the high cost of a medical education.

"This new law addresses the need for affordable medical education. It also details several intensive programs to place doctors in underdeveloped areas as part of their required training period," he said.

Rohmani said the law would also prohibit medical schools from hiking their fees without prior approval from the Education Ministry, thereby "preventing the commercialization of medical education."

Nuh said the law would also put in place a set of standards for medical education and for graduate doctors' professional competency, as well as integrate dental schools into medical schools.

Although the bill was pre-approved earlier this week by House Commission X to be brought to Thursday's plenary session, the passage was still marked by last-minute arguments and objections to articles pertaining to government-paid internships for trainee doctors, tie-ups between medical schools and private hospitals, and standards for dental schools.

That prompted House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso to order a short recess to allow legislators from the various parties to discuss compromises on those points, after which the plenary session resumed and the bill was passed.

The new law is the latest in a string of new legislation that the House has passed this week before it breaks for its month-long mid-year recess. Among the more contentious laws that have come out include one regulating mass organizations and one to tackle forestry crimes, both of which are expected to be the subjects of judicial reviews by civil society groups.