Govt, NGOs to curb maternal mortality

Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The nationwide campaign to curb mortality rates for pregnant women was relaunched on Tuesday, involving more state institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in a bid to reach out to more at-risk families.

Coordinating Minister for People and Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla, State Minister for Women Empowerment Sri Redjeki Sumaryoto, Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi, and representatives of 40 NGOs joined the drive, a renewal of the 1999 movement initiated by the office of the State Minister for Women's Empowerment.

The national effort, entitled the Love Mother Movement (GSI), is part of the worldwide program under the White Ribbon Alliance, which promotes health for pregnant women.

The GSI will focus on raising public awareness of the high level of maternal deaths from pregnancy and/or childbirth complications, with a target of reducing the maternal mortality rates in the year 2010 to 125 per 100,000 births.

Redjeki said that the economic crisis, which has not abated, has contributed to the high childbirth mortality rates in Indonesia, which is now estimated at over 334 per 100,000 births, the third worst among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN).

The other key reason, according to Redjeki, is the low level of education among people in the country.

Abdullah Cholil, director of the Maternal Neonatal Health non- governmental organization, said that the GSI would encourage changes in society in addition to lobbying decision makers and working to facilitate more accessible public health services.

"Practically, we need to provide women and society with knowledge about pregnancy and reproductive health, while improving skills of midwives," Cholil said.