Singapore: The main drivers of Indonesian pharmaceutical market in the future will be the increasing access to medicines, affordability and growing public awareness about common diseases, says a report by healthcare intelligence provider GlobalData. To better cater to these demographic shifts, the government is focusing on human capital development and education programs.

According to the findings of the report, Indonesia's healthcare landscape is changing to better suit its more vulnerable citizens with insurance policies and infrastructure creating the required stability.

The overall healthcare system in Indonesia is still under development, with healthcare spending increasing gradually from only 1.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2002 to 2.4 percent in 2010. While services and medicines provided by public hospitals are either subsidized or available free of charge, Indonesia's healthcare market currently lacks universal healthcare insurance and has poor access to facilities, which the government is aiming to improve.

A significant change in Indonesia's rate of urbanization means that more than half of the population is expected to live in urban areas by 2020.

In 2001, the government announced a policy of decentralization, increasing the responsibility of provincial governments for the provision of healthcare facilities. Following this, in 2011, a prenatal and post natal insurance policy was also introduced to help meet set targets for maternal and infant mortality rates. Changes such as these show a steady improvement of the Indonesian healthcare landscape.

In 2005, the Ministry of Health for the Republic of Indonesia (MoHRI) launched an insurance scheme known as Askeskin, which offers coverage to the poor population, while in 2008 MoHRI converted Askeskin into the Jamkesmas insurance program in order to expand the level of insurance coverage for the entire population. This is entirely funded by the central government, and covered approximately 76.4 million people as of 2010.