Jakarta, 19 June 2025 –The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia and the World Health Organization (WHO) today marked a major milestone in strengthening health workforce development with the official designation of Indonesia’s Health Polytechnic Network (Poltekkes) as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Education and Development.
The event was held during the first official visit to Indonesia by Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, following Indonesia’s reassignment from the WHO South-East Asia Region to the Western Pacific Region in May.
Dr Piukala joined His Excellency Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Minister of Health of Indonesia, senior officials from the Ministry of Health, and WHO Representative to Indonesia Dr N. Paranietharan for the launch ceremony in Jakarta.
“Indonesia is proud that Poltekkes has been designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre – a recognition of our commitment to advancing nursing and midwifery education,” said Minister Sadikin. “This marks a new chapter in our collaboration with WHO and reflects our ambition to strengthen health systems through skilled, empowered health workers. By investing in the education and leadership of nurses and midwives, we aim to improve care across Indonesia and contribute to a stronger health workforce throughout the region.”
With 38 campuses across 33 provinces nationwide, Poltekkes plays a central role in producing Indonesia’s health professionals – particularly nurses, midwives and allied health workers – who serve in primary health care centres and facilities across the country. Its designation as a WHO Collaborating Centre reflects both its national leadership in health workforce development and its growing role in regional cooperation, including through South-South training initiatives with Pacific Island countries.
"This is an important moment both for Indonesia and for the Western Pacific Region,” said Dr Piukala. “As Indonesia takes on its new role in the Western Pacific, Poltekkes is showing how national experience can strengthen regional capacity and advance nursing and midwifery education for the benefit of all. This is exactly what we mean when we speak of weaving health for families, communities and societies."
The WHO Collaborating Centre will focus on two priority areas:
- Supporting WHO in delivering accredited clinical instructor training programmes for nurses and midwives to improve the quality and consistency of pre-service education.
- Supporting WHO in advancing midwifery leadership development with a focus on education, policy and service quality.
Since 2022, WHO and Poltekkes have developed 50 international class modules, trained 50 lecturers across 24 campuses, and provided intensive coaching to improve teaching quality at pilot campuses in Medan, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Pontianak. This has helped Indonesia maintain a skilled health workforce density above the WHO minimum threshold of 44.5 doctors, nurses and midwives per 10 000 population, while improving workforce competencies and training.
The
inaugural activity under the new WHO Collaborating Centre – the Midwifery
Leadership Programme – officially opened this week in Jakarta and brings
together 20 midwifery faculty members from Poltekkes to strengthen leadership
capacity in maternal and newborn health.
Since
2000, Indonesia has reduced maternal mortality from 311 to 140 per 100 000 live
births and under-five mortality from 52 to 21 per 1000 live births, meeting the
2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target for under-five mortality and
reaching the upper threshold for maternal mortality. However, further
reductions are needed to meet the full maternal health target, which calls for
a two-thirds reduction from 2010 levels.
“Indonesia’s
progress in reducing maternal mortality is a major achievement, but too many
women and newborns – especially in underserved areas – still face preventable
risks,” said WHO Representative Dr Paranietharan. “This new Collaborating
Centre will strengthen midwifery leadership and education both in Indonesia and
across the region, helping close remaining gaps and accelerate efforts to reach
the SDG targets.”
The
establishment of the Collaborating Centre reflects Indonesia’s increasingly
active role in regional and global health cooperation. During his visit, Dr
Piukala attended both the Global Cervical Cancer Elimination Forum and the Asia
Pacific Leaders’ Summit on Malaria Elimination in Bali, and held meetings with
senior Ministry of Health officials, WHO staff and partners.
Further
discussions between the Ministry of Health and WHO are planned to develop the
next phase of Collaborating Centre activities, including accredited clinical
instructor training programmes for nurses and midwives to support quality
improvements across pre-service education.