Government strives to avoid a baby boom, says Khofifah<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Ever wonder the price of family planning in
\nIndonesia?<\/p>\n
According to the government it is at least Rp 41.7 billion in
\nforeign debt due to the procurement of contraceptives in 1999
\nalone.<\/p>\n
"As soon as we were hit by the economic crisis, the
\nresponsibility to procure contraceptives, which was earlier given
\nto regional administrations, became the central government's duty
\nand we were forced to use funds from abroad for that," State
\nMinister of the Empowerment of Women Khofifah Indar Parawansa,
\nwho also chairs the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN), said
\nhere on Friday.<\/p>\n
Khofifah stressed the importance of continuing the family
\nplanning program across the country by, among others things,
\nmaking contraceptives readily available.<\/p>\n
"We need to stabilize our population rate and avoid a baby
\nboom," Khofifah remarked.<\/p>\n
There was concern at the height of the economic crisis last
\nyear that Indonesia would see a sudden population boom, with many
\nlower income couples dropping out of the family planning program
\ndue to financial constraints.<\/p>\n
The country's birthrate is estimated at about 23.1 births per
\n1,000 people.<\/p>\n
Khofifah pledged the government's continued support for the
\nfamily planning program, saying one way to reduce the debt burden
\nwould be seek cooperation and grants in importing contraceptives.<\/p>\n
While condoms remain the most readily available contraceptive
\non the market, they are the least used.<\/p>\n
According to data from BKKBN, condoms make up less than 2.8
\npercent of the total number of contraceptive used.<\/p>\n
"The most used contraceptives, however, are rare in supply,"
\nKhofifah said without specifying which type of contraceptive was
\nthe most popular.<\/p>\n
In a related development, the Australian government on
\nSaturday donated medical assistance, including medicines, medical
\nequipment and contraception pills, worth a total of AU$5 million.<\/p>\n
The assistance was symbolically handed over by Australian
\nAmbassador to Indonesia John McCarthy to Minister of Health
\nAchmad Sujudi.<\/p>\n
The aid will be distributed to poor residents through
\ncommunity health centers in six provinces in eastern Indonesia:
\nWest Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, South
\nEast Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Ambassador McCarthy said the aid was aimed at helping the poor
\nand improving the national family planning program during
\nIndonesia's economic plight. (jun\/emf)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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