Ministry for Women's Empowerment Pushes for Equal Access to Healthcare Services for Women
Jakarta — The Assistant Deputy for Gender Mainstreaming in Human Development, Culture, Community Empowerment, and Regional Government for Region III at the Ministry for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (KPPPA), Dewa Ayu Laksmiadi Janapriati, is pushing for strengthened gender equality in healthcare access for women.
During an online discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday, Ayu stated that efforts to strengthen equality are necessary to address persisting healthcare access disparities faced by women.
“These barriers can include limited control over economic resources, restricted mobility, and social norms that position men as the primary decision-makers within families,” she said.
Ayu noted that such conditions can cause women to delay or forgo necessary healthcare services, including reproductive health services and routine health examinations.
Further inequalities exist in the high risks associated with maternal health and reproductive health. She considered this issue an ongoing significant challenge for women as it directly relates to their biological functions and social roles within families.
“Problems such as maternal mortality during childbirth, anaemia in women of reproductive age, and limited access to reproductive health services remain a concern in health development,” she stated.
These challenges, she said, are often exacerbated by limited health information, early marriage, young age at first birth, and uneven healthcare service access.
Ayu continued that further inequality exists in unbalanced care work burdens. She noted that women bear primary responsibility for care work such as childcare, caring for sick family members, elderly relatives or in-laws, which often remains invisible and is not measured economically.
According to her, this has significant impacts on physical and mental health, increasing risks of exhaustion, stress, and other health disorders for women, particularly those performing both domestic and productive work.
Furthermore, Ayu stressed, women are vulnerable to gender-based violence, including domestic violence and sexual violence. This constitutes a serious public health issue due to its direct impact on women’s physical and mental health.
“Addressing this issue requires a cross-sector approach involving the health, legal, and social protection sectors,” she said.
Consequently, Ayu urged the government to continue strengthening various women’s empowerment programmes and policies in healthcare, where gender perspectives are integrated throughout all development processes, from planning, budgeting, implementation, to evaluation.
She also called for maternal and child health programmes to be strengthened as an important component of human development.
The government can strengthen women’s access to healthcare services such as pregnancy examinations, antenatal care, facility-based delivery, post-natal services, and reproductive health education.
Ayu also emphasised the importance of strengthening women’s roles as agents of change at community level, such as posyandu (integrated health service post) cadres.
“Through posyandu, women are not only recipients of healthcare services, but also agents of change at community level who contribute to raising public health awareness,” she said.