Maternal health care

We would like to make some corrections in your article Unicef aid for health program published on Aug. 10, 1999. It is true that the United Nations Children's fund (Unicef) in Central Java is supporting a maternal health care program, but in approximately 3,000 villages in Rembang, Pati, Megelang, Wonosobo, Banjarnegara, Banyumas, Cilacap, Pemalang, Karanganyar and Brebes districts, and not in "10 small towns" as you mention.

This maternal health care scheme (called TABULIN, an acronym of Tabungan Ibu Bersalin is a comprehensive community-based program that was initiated in February 1998, where all pregnant women and would-be mothers who want to join pay a nominal fee (which stays in the community) to obtain the minimum maternal health care services necessary to deliver safely.

In some districts, the TABULIN scheme is merged with a Complementary Feeding Initiative, where nutrient-rich complementary feeding is distributed to six-month-old to 12-month-old babies through the village-based community-run health posts to build upon community efforts of mutual support, and in an effort to improve the nutrition and health status of mothers and children.

Though Central Java's maternal death rate is not the highest in the country as stated, the total number of deaths is highly significant due to a high population density in Central Java.

With regards to your statement that "a total of 500 mothers and babies will have prenatal health checks in every town", actually, we expect a total of 500,000 TABULIN members and 35,000 infants to receive complementary feeding by the end of 1999.

MAHOKO KAMATSUCHI

and WIDODO SUHARTOYO

Unicef Semarang