Ahead of the 80th anniversary of Indonesia’s Independence Day, the Bali Provincial Health Office has launched a Free Health Check program targeting school children, aiming to ensure equitable access to health services for students across the region.
“Yes, it’s about health independence, not just for Independence Day but we will continue with the school health check program,” said Head of the Bali Health Office, I Nyoman Gede Anom, during the program’s launch in Denpasar on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.
The program kicked off in Denpasar, covering 292 students, after previously reaching 2,120 students at elementary and junior high schools across various regencies and municipalities in Bali.
The overall target is to reach 740,000 students throughout the province. Health workers from local community health centers (puskesmas) will carry out 17 types of health screenings during school hours, including physical and mental health assessments.
“Each check-up takes no more than 10 minutes. If any health issues are found, students will be referred for further examination,” Anom explained.
He noted that many students were undergoing a complete health check for the first time, which has led to the discovery of several health concerns.
The most common issues were related to poor physical fitness and abnormal blood pressure, often due to a lack of physical activity.
“So far, there haven’t been any direct complaints from students, but regarding fitness, almost all of them, when asked if they exercised in the past week, said no. From there, we can already classify them as unhealthy,” he added.
Anom stated that the program has run smoothly without significant obstacles. Coordination with the Bali Education, Youth, and Sports Office has been well established, and the current priority is encouraging students to take advantage of this free government program.
The initiative isn’t limited to students. Ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, the Bali Health Office is also encouraging the general public to participate. Out of the 4,433,262 targeted individuals, only 53,406 have participated so far.
To boost participation, the government is working not only with schools but also with various community organizations.
In the lead-up to Independence Day, civil servants have also been mobilized to undergo health checks at their local puskesmas.
According to Antarabali, “We want to set an example that health checks at puskesmas are of the same standard as those at hospitals. This is to prevent public scepticism, like why are citizens told to go to puskesmas while government employees go elsewhere? So, this is about maintaining public trust that health checks are important,” said Anom.
For 2025, the Bali Provincial Government aims to provide free health checks to around 740,000 students and 1.5 million members of the general public, representing about 36 percent of Bali’s total population.
“For school children, it’s about 740,000 across all schools in Bali. That’s our target for this year,” Anom said.
“We’re setting a target of just 36 percent this year. So, around 1.5 million of Bali’s total population,” he continued.
At the launch event, students were seen lining up to undergo various screenings, including eye exams, ENT, blood pressure, blood sugar, dental, and mental health checks.
Anom emphasized that the program will be implemented gradually across all cities and regencies in Bali, involving trained medical personnel, cross-sector collaboration, and support from schools to reach all school-age children—including those not currently enrolled in formal education.
Sources : Detik.com, AntaraNews
Feat Image: AntaraNews//Dewa Ketut Sudiarta Wiguna