Community health

Community health

From Republika

The government has declared the national health vision under the name of "Indonesia Sehat 2010" (Healthy Indonesia 2010) but this will remain just a hope, a reason why Health Minister Ahmad Sujudi has said it will be very difficult to empower the community in the health sector under the national health system.

Efforts have been made to improve public health since 1982 but Indonesia is at present ranked 106th of a total of 191 member countries of WHO in terms of the achievements of the goal of the national health system.

Only some 30 percent of Indonesians have enjoyed the community health center services while only about 2.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product has been allocated for health funding. The WHO, meanwhile, has set this figure at a minimum of 5 percent.

In terms of epidemiology, contagious diseases like malaria and diarrhea mixed with vomiting and smallpox are still posing a big problem. Non-contagious diseases like heart failure, hypertension and diabetes (illnesses related to over-nutrition) and cancer, the Parkinson disease and other degenerative illnesses have shown an uptrend. To make matters worse, drug abuse is still rampant.

There is great pessimism, therefore, that Indonesia will ever become a healthy nation by 2010. It is the duty of every community member to help the government make its national health vision a reality.

PURWANTO KITUNG

Jakarta