Healthy Indonesia week begins

Healthy Indonesia week begins

JAKARTA (JP): A coalition on Healthy Indonesia in cooperation
with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and John Hopkins
University will launch a program called "Saving Women's Lives",
which aims at reducing the maternal mortality rate in the
country.

The one-week campaign, starting next Monday, will feature
several seminars on the female reproductive system, the family
planning program, early detection of uterine and breast cancer as
well as violence toward women, a release from the coalition said
on Tuesday.

Fifty-two percent of the country's 210 million population are
women and there is an average of five million pregnancies per
year with about 18,000 to 20,000 deaths due to complications
during pregnancy and childbirth, Ministry of Health data reveals.

Four out of 10 babies die in the first week of life, the data
says.

Indonesia's infant mortality rate is still very high, an
average of 300 deaths per 100,000 live births.

The campaign will start with free health consultations at
Siloam Gleneagles Hospital in Karawaci, Tangerang, and talks on
various health issues such as on family planning and the
reproductive system.

On the same day, an open clinic that is also free to the
public will also take place at the lobby of the Hilton Hotel in
Central Jakarta from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Along with the open health services, a seminar on "Saving
Women's Lives" at the Hilton Hotel will feature Minister of
Women's Empowerment Khofifah Indar Parawansa, woman activist Rita
Serena Kalibonso and health expert Gulardi H. Wiknjosastro.

From Saturday to Nov. 11, there will be a media campaign on
Healthy Indonesia which will include interviews and talk shows on
television and over 100 radio stations as well as print media
reports on women's issues.

The coalition was established in July 1998 and comprises
individuals and independent institutions. (edt)