Government strives to avoid a baby boom, says Khofifah
Government strives to avoid a baby boom, says Khofifah
JAKARTA (JP): Ever wonder the price of family planning in
Indonesia?
According to the government it is at least Rp 41.7 billion in
foreign debt due to the procurement of contraceptives in 1999
alone.
"As soon as we were hit by the economic crisis, the
responsibility to procure contraceptives, which was earlier given
to regional administrations, became the central government's duty
and we were forced to use funds from abroad for that," State
Minister of the Empowerment of Women Khofifah Indar Parawansa,
who also chairs the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN), said
here on Friday.
Khofifah stressed the importance of continuing the family
planning program across the country by, among others things,
making contraceptives readily available.
"We need to stabilize our population rate and avoid a baby
boom," Khofifah remarked.
There was concern at the height of the economic crisis last
year that Indonesia would see a sudden population boom, with many
lower income couples dropping out of the family planning program
due to financial constraints.
The country's birthrate is estimated at about 23.1 births per
1,000 people.
Khofifah pledged the government's continued support for the
family planning program, saying one way to reduce the debt burden
would be seek cooperation and grants in importing contraceptives.
While condoms remain the most readily available contraceptive
on the market, they are the least used.
According to data from BKKBN, condoms make up less than 2.8
percent of the total number of contraceptive used.
"The most used contraceptives, however, are rare in supply,"
Khofifah said without specifying which type of contraceptive was
the most popular.
In a related development, the Australian government on
Saturday donated medical assistance, including medicines, medical
equipment and contraception pills, worth a total of AU$5 million.
The assistance was symbolically handed over by Australian
Ambassador to Indonesia John McCarthy to Minister of Health
Achmad Sujudi.
The aid will be distributed to poor residents through
community health centers in six provinces in eastern Indonesia:
West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, South
East Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya.
Ambassador McCarthy said the aid was aimed at helping the poor
and improving the national family planning program during
Indonesia's economic plight. (jun/emf)