Conference guests visit family planning centers

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)