Family planning on the right track: Report
Family planning on the right track: Report
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
People's access to family planning and reproductive health in the
country has been improving over the past decade, but their
commitment to population issues have been on the decline, a
government report says.
The country report, revealed by National Family Planning
Coordinating Board (BKKBN) chairwoman Sumarjati Arjoso on Friday,
attributes the increase in people's awareness of family planning
and the use of contraceptives among fertile couples to the
broader access to family planning services.
Awareness of the family planning program has reached 96
percent of fertile couples, compared to 86.3 percent in 1994,
while the number of users rose to 60.3 percent from 52.1 percent
in 1994.
"Our campaign today on family planning is to create the
quality family by 2015. We are sending medical workers and family
planning counselors to the regions and building a clientele-based
relation between (contraceptives) users and counselors," said
Sumarjati.
The report spells out the national progress in implementing
the International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD)
Program of Action 1994-2004.
Indonesia joined 178 other countries in signing the ICPD in
Cairo in 1994 and adopted the action plan.
The plan included universal access to education, primary
health care and a full range of comprehensive reproductive health
care services, reduction in infant, child and maternal mortality,
and increased life expectancy.
On health care services, the action plan requires all
countries to provide individuals with access to primary health
system and reproductive health services by 2015.
Under the tenure of former president Soeharto, the use of
force marked the implementation of family planning program.
After Soeharto stepped down in 1998, many couples quit the
program, while in the wake of regional autonomy many local
governments sacrificed family planning for revenue seeking
program.
In a bid to reinvigorate the program, the government has now
deployed almost 73,000 midwives and 31,000 family planning field
workers to about 70,460 villages across the country.
There are almost 44,000 doctors stationed at
clinics/hospitals, not to mention three million volunteers.
However, country representative of the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA), Bernard Coquelin, suggested more
assistance for local governments to improve the reproductive
health service.
"A good access to the reproductive health service could reduce
the maternal mortality ratio, which is still high in the
country," he said.
The country's maternal mortality rate has declined from 397
per 100,000 live births in 1994 to 307 in 2004, but remains worse
compared to Thailand, which has only 44 deaths per 100,000, the
Philippines (200), Vietnam (130), Malaysia (41) and Singapore
(30).
"Many pregnant women go to midwives to get examined in their
pregnancy, but their delivery was assisted by traditional
midwives," Sumarjati said. The reason why maternal mortality rate
in the country remained high, she added.
Most traditional midwives cannot deal with hemorrhage, the
most common cause of maternal death.