JP/1/HEALTH
JP/1/HEALTH
Over half of community clinics nationwide not working: Minister
Blontank Poer and I Wayan Juniartha
The Jakarta Post/Karanganyar/Bali
A top government official disclosed on Saturday that malnutrition
was widespread in the country as 60 percent of the some
200,000 integrated health service posts (Posyandu) nationwide are
currently not functioning.
"The fact that these Posyandu are not working has weakened the
monitoring of public nutrition levels, which in turn has led to
widespread malnutrition in the country," said Minister of Health
Siti Fadilah Supari during a visit to Karanganyar regency,
Central Java.
Fadilah was in Karanganyar on Saturday to attend an event
marking the formal inauguration of Community Self-Help Month and
National Health Week by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
In response to the malnutrition crisis, the government will
reactivate the Posyandu nationwide and has earmarked Rp 150
billion (US$15.9 million) for this purpose, said Fadilah.
The money would be used not only to reactivate the Posyandu,
but also to provide medication and nutrition supplements to
children at risk from malnutrition, said Fadilah.
"The start of National Health Week is a good point of
departure for ensuring that the Posyandu programs will bear fruit
in the near future," said Fadilah, as quoted by Antara.
The Posyandu program was established under President Soeharto.
It was regarded at the time as being highly successful as it
managed to reduce the number of children with malnutrition and
the rate of infection by various diseases, such as polio.
Besides providing nutrition supplements to infants and
children, the program also provided counseling for expectant
mothers, infant vaccination and other basic medical services.
Under the program, local women's activists and health workers
encouraged mothers to bring their infants to the Posyandu.
Basic medical examinations for mothers and children were
provided on a regular basis. The Posyandu were found not only in
rural areas, but also in major cities around the country,
including Jakarta.
The economic crisis in 1997 and government neglect have been
blamed for the problems currently facing the Posyandu. But the
nation has paid a high price for this in the form of widespread
malnutrition.
The country was shocked recently by news reports that dozens
of children were suffering from malnutrition in West Nusa
Tenggara province, one of the country's rice bowls.
These reports were quickly followed by reports on widespread
malnutrition in other parts of the country.
In his speech in Karanganyar, President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono said that his government would reactivate various New
Order programs that benefited the public, including poverty
eradication, health service and community self-help programs.
During the function, the President symbolically handed over a
medical insurance card to a Karanganyar resident. The government
proposes to provide free health insurance to 36.1 million poor
people across the nation.
Later on Saturday afternoon, President Susilo flew to Denpasar
to kick off the 27th Bali Arts Festival. In his speech, he urged
the Balinese people to maintain religious tolerance and harmony.
Recalling that the Bali bombings of October 2002 provided a
hard, tragic lesson, Susilo stressed that terrorist attacks could
take place anywhere and anytime. If such an attack were to take
place again in Bali, the island would be catapulted back into
recession, he warned while urging vigilance.
"Terrorism has no connection whatsoever with the teachings or
the followers of a particular religion. Terrorism is terrorism, a
crime against humanity that must be eliminated. That's the view
of my government," he stressed.