Health fund crunch brews moral dilemma
JAKARTA (JP): Fund shortages will lead to a moral dilemma for health administrators of choosing between earmarking assistance for malnourished babies or providing contraceptives to prevent a baby boom, a health official said on Tuesday.
Soewarta Kosen of the research division of the Ministry of Health said that malnutrition problems could not be handled in "a few months" but required continuous involvement.
Nutritionist Syafri Guricci from the University of Indonesia said there were now nine million to 12 million Indonesian children suffering from various degrees of malnutrition.
Choosing between funding assistance to handle the malnutrition problem or the provision of contraceptives was a "moral choice", Soewarta said.
Family planning officials have raised the alarm about a possible baby boom following decades when Indonesia was championed as an exemplary example of family planning success among developing countries.
Soewarta and Syafri were speakers at a two-day seminar titled "Politics of Health", held by the School of Public Health of the University of Indonesia. It is aimed to increase awareness among political parties about health concerns and will end on Wednesday.
"The public, especially of the low-income bracket, are losing their ability to obtain contraceptive means," Soewarta said.
Speakers painted a gloomy forecast for a lost and mentally deficient generation, also suffering a host of other health- related problems, because of fund shortages in the health sector.
Syafri said the most critical time for the growth of the brain was from the third trimester of pregnancy to the age of six months.
"Malnutrition could lead to permanent damage even if the nutritional condition has been improved," Syafri said.
Speakers said that in several areas funding of food supplements under the safety net program did not reach the targeted elementary school students.
"The students only get Rp 50 from the initial budget of Rp 450 per child," Syafri said.
Does Sampoerno, a professor of public health administration, said that it was difficult for the health sector to obtain sufficient funds from the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas).
"The board considers spending on the health sector as consumptive spending, not as an investment in human resource development."
He warned that outbreaks of civil unrest could worsen health conditions in the respective areas "in a matter of days".
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced because of violence in Aceh, West Kalimantan, Maluku and East Timor.
Minister of Health Farid A. Moeloek said he ordered heads of provincial health offices to improve sanitation and conduct immunization in the effort to curb worsening health conditions in refugee centers. (05)