Health education for women key to a healthy society
Health education for women key to a healthy society
JAKARTA (JP): Women remain the main health providers in many countries. Their role begins at home, where illness usually begins. Outside the home, they are well recognized as doctors, nurses, midwives, other health workers and volunteers.
Unfortunately, the most vulnerable group to poor health are children and women who are also, needless to say, the poorest.
Data from the United Nation Children's Fund (Unicef) reveal the grim facts. In Indonesia, almost one of every three children is moderately or severely underweight and about half of under- fives suffer from vitamin and nutritional deficiencies.
Annually, about 170,000 children die directly or indirectly due to malnutrition. More than 20,000 women die in childbirth and 215,000 infants die before reaching their first birthday every year.
Based on this fact, the Women's International Club (WIC), in cooperation with local women's organizations, has launched a campaign to promote health care education for women in urban slums and rural areas.
WIC's chairwoman Maria Waworunto said during the organization's 14th conference at the Jakarta Hilton Hotel recently that the campaign would begin by educating women volunteers working for Posyandu, the integrated community-based health posts established in villages across the country. It is here that young children are weighed to monitor their growth and basic preventive services provided.
The critical health services give the opportunity for health and nutrition education for the community.
"Posyandu's primary function is in monitoring the health of babies, children and women in our neighborhoods," she said.
Posyandu was previously organized by local doctors and midwives with the help of women volunteers from the Family Welfare Program (PKK) organization.
"During the New Order period, PKK was always associated with the ruling Golkar Party. Now, in the reform era when Golkar is no longer in power, women are reluctant to join PKK," Maria explained.
The consequent halt in health services in many villages has affected the health condition of millions of babies, toddlers and women.
"PKK actually has nothing to do with Golkar activities. They are important grassroots movements to empower women in order to improve their living condition," explained women's activist Mien Sudarpo.
In a time of crisis, the health condition of Indonesia's 23 million children and millions of women is seriously threatened.
"We need to revitalize Posyandu to help these vulnerable groups in our society," Maria said.
Attempts to activate Posyandu have been carried out by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with Unicef.
Senior program coordinator of Unicef Indonesia Khin-Sandi Lwin said one of Unicef's strategies to improve the health condition of women and children and to prevent malnutrition was to revitalize the nationwide network of an estimated 1 million health posts.
Over the past two years, Unicef has raised US$13 million for the Posyandu Revitalization Program which currently operates in 81 districts and benefits about 370,000 children.
"We need more funds and participation from the entire community to reach out to more children and women, especially in remote villages," Khin said.
Maria said many people were willing to help organize Posyandu but they simply did not know where to go.
"WIC's members, many of them expatriate women, are very willing to lend a hand," Maria said.
Former minister of health Sujudi said in addition to the revitalization of Posyandu, a lot could be done to maintain the quality of health of Indonesians.
All of it depends on having enough basic knowledge on health and healthy living, said Sujudi, a professor of health at the University of Indonesia.
He said health education for the young and women was a key factor in establishing healthy behavior that would influence development and health in later years.
"Unhealthy diet, inadequate exercise, unsafe sexual activity and smoking, all of which provoke disease in adulthood but have their roots in their early formative years," Sujudi noted.
Health, nutrition and education are closely intertwined. Child mortality, poor health and malnutrition are closely related to the level of education of parents, particularly that of the mothers, he said.
"The strong positive correlation between education and health shows that women's education remains one of the greatest barriers to improvements for women," he said.
Unicef's study says children who are underweight are three times more likely to be those whose mothers have no formal schooling (36 percent) than children of women who have secondary education (13 percent).
Khin said that women can be taught basic knowledge and simple health essentials, such as washing hands before eating and cooking nutritious but inexpensive food.
Some equally simple things may seem unrelated but still affect health and nutrition of the family. Khin said men may selfishly or unthinkingly spend cash on cigarettes over eggs for their children and wives.
"Families and communities are provided with practical knowledge that will help them to make their best use of their limited resources," she stressed.
The bottom line is that empowering communities, especially women, with health information and education to promote their own health and that of others will certainly lead to building a healthier society. (raw)