TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has proposed a mass rabies vaccination program for all dogs across Bali as a step to break the chain of transmission. The proposal was conveyed by Budi during a working meeting with the House of Representatives Commission IX, which oversees health affairs, on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
According to Budi, the risk of rabies transmission in several regions of Indonesia remains dangerously high. For instance, between January and March 2026 alone, reported incidents of rabies transmission reached 91,221 cases. Out of that number, Bali and East Nusa Tenggara have emerged as hotspots with the highest concentration of cases due to large dog populations.
Budi explained that the most effective and cost-effective effort to suppress rabies cases is vaccinating the vector animals, specifically dogs. "Best practices worldwide show that the cheapest and best way is to vaccinate the dogs. If the dogs are left unprotected and bite humans, it is actually a late and expensive intervention," Budi argued.
He elaborated that the cost of an anti-rabies vaccine regimen for humans reaches around Rp650,000 per person, which is more than 12 times the cost of an animal vaccination at just Rp50,000. According to his calculations, the total funding required for animals is actually negligible when weighed against the severe fallout on local tourism and public safety.
With an estimated dog population in Bali reaching 1 million, he noted, the budget needed for island-wide mass vaccination would only amount to roughly Rp50 billion. "Rather than waiting for severe bites to happen, the costs can be more than 100 times that amount," Budi warned.
Budi pointed out that the procurement of vaccines for animals technically falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture. While Budi has already communicated with his counterparts at the ministry, he noted that animal vaccination rollouts by agricultural authorities remain critically low, a shortfall that directly burdens the Ministry of Health, which is left responsible for preventing rabies transmission to humans.
Therefore, Budi plans to communicate directly with the Bali Provincial Government to accelerate the dog vaccination program. "If the Ministry of Agriculture is hesitant, I am willing to fly to Bali myself. The governor is my senior. [I will tell him,] 'Boss, you can manage Rp50 billion, can't you?' Let's call on hotel entrepreneurs and others to contribute. Let's vaccinate every single dog in Bali, and just get it done," he stated.
According to Budi, the Ministry of Health is also open to a cost-sharing scheme to procure the animal vaccines, even if the actual injections must still be administered by local agricultural officers.
"Our nurses cannot be tasked with injecting dogs; only agricultural field officers can do that. But if the vaccine is not expensive, we think we can help so that the incidence drops," he concluded.
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