Conference guests visit family planning centers
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Participants in an international conference here on Tuesday visited family planning centers at village level, which have been dubbed the backbone of Indonesia's successful family planning program.
Split into three groups, they visited integrated health service posts, known in Indonesian as Posyandu, in three villages in Gianyar regency, some 27 kilometers east of Denpasar.
The National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) spokesman Sunarto said during the trip the conference's participants observed the methods employed by family planning field workers and local residents.
"The three villages -- Batuan, Kemenuh and Singakerta -- were chosen because the administration and implementation of their family planning program is the best," he said.
The one-week South-South Cooperation in Human Resources Development in Family Planning/Reproductive Health conference, which opened on Monday, is being attended by 25 family planning experts and 45 representatives from donor agencies.
Sunarto said the field trip was aimed at showing the participants the implementation of the country's family planning program at a grassroots level.
"The guests witnessed clients of the family planning program easily obtain contraceptive devices at health service posts. They also saw people who use Intra Uterine Device (IUD) and injection contraception methods being recorded by health service post workers and the results taken to the nearest community health center," he said.
Sunarto attributed the success of the family planning program in Bali to the active role of villagers.
The conference was held by BKKBN and sponsored by the United Nations Family Planning Association (UNFPA) to evaluate the outcome of the international training program, which was launched by Indonesia 12 years ago.
According to BKKBN, there are around 65,000 health service posts in Indonesia, with 25,000 workers and 2 million local volunteers, under the supervision of 48,000 BKKBN officials in provincial and regency offices.
Besides administering the family planning program, health service posts also provide postnatal services, including health checks, weight control, nutritional advice, immunization and vaccination.
Indonesia, which is considered one of the four centers of family planning excellence in the world, along with Thailand, Tunisia and Mexico, has claimed that its success rests upon the voluntary reproductive choices offered to clients.
UNFPA, which has channeled more than US$100 million into the program since the 1970s, has reaffirmed its commitment to assisting the implementation of the family planning program in Indonesia. (zen/02)