Funds promised for midwives in remote areas

Funds promised for midwives in remote areas

JAKARTA (JP): The government will offer funds to midwives
working in remote areas, State Minister of Population/Chairman of
the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) Haryono Suyono
announced yesterday.

The government will provide Rp 2 billion (US$900,000) to
midwives serving in out-of-the-way areas, Haryono said.

He told reporters that the funds would be provided in soft
loans through the state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) in
cooperation with a U.S. non-governmental organization, PROFIT.

However, he declined to mention how much each midwife would be
entitled, saying that details were being worked out by BRI.

He only said that the midwives should repay the loans in three
to four years, depending on their financial capabilities. He also
said that the government would only provide the funds to midwives
in remote villages, not to those living in the cities.

Haryono said the government needed to encourage midwives to
serve in remote areas due to their increasing demands for medical
services.

He noted a 50 percent increase in the use of contraceptives
provided by the government last year. Contraception by injection
was chosen by nearly 10 million while one and a half million
IUD's (intrauterine device) were inserted.

"The government, with its community health centers, cannot
meet the increasing demand for services without help from private
midwives and doctors," he said.

Haryono said the midwives can use the funds to renovate or
repair their houses to be used as clinics.

He said the midwives could provide the services in the
afternoon or at night after their regular work in the morning at
the government-run community health centers.

According to Haryono, Indonesia still needs many more midwives
in order to place at least one midwife in each of the country's
65,500 villages by the end of 1999. According to the latest data,
as of October 1994, the ministry registered only 15,120 midwives.

He predicted the increase in demand for midwives and private
doctors in remote villages would be in line with the continuous
Poverty Alleviation Program (IDT) this year.

He said that the government would distribute IDT funds of Rp
400 billion ($181.7 million) to poor villages to improve their
welfare.

"More families in villages are expected to use the funds to
run home industries, animal husbandry, and trade, instead of
farming," he said.

Haryono said the government offers protection, in terms of
insurance policies, to participants in the family planning
program.

The nominal values of the policies range from Rp 1,000, Rp
2,500, Rp 10,000, and Rp 40,000, depending on the financial
capability of the participants of the program, he said.

"The government will even bear the insurance policies of poor
families." he added.(imn)