Moeloek calls high maternal mortality rate a 'tragedy'
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health Farid Anfasa Moeloek, describing Indonesia's average of 385 women dying in labor every week "a tragedy", called for concerted efforts to reduce the maternal mortality rate.
Citing a 1994 official record, he said maternal mortalities averaged 390 per 100,000 live births.
"This means that every year 20,000 mothers die while giving birth to their babies, or 385 deaths every week," he told a media briefing in conjunction with World Health Day which falls on April 7. The theme of this year's commemoration is safe motherhood.
"It's a tragedy because it feels like a jumbo jet crashes every week, killing all on board while its passengers happen to be all mothers," he said.
He said that compared to other Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries, Indonesia's maternal mortality rate was twice to 10 times higher. In 1995, for instance, the maternal mortality in Malaysia was 34 per 100,000 live births, while the Philippines recorded 208 per 100,000 live births, Thailand 200 per 100,000 live births and Vietnam 160 per 100,000 live births.
Most women who die from childbirth suffer from excessive hemorrhaging, toxemia and infection. Many mothers also die because they reach health care centers too late, he said.
"A mother's death does not only represent a family member's death because mothers often have multiple roles that are not easily replaced by others," he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) lauded Indonesia's campaign to reduce maternal mortalities to 225 per 100,000 by 2000, but called for accelerated action given the target is only two and a half years away.
Quality
Robert J. Kim Farley, WHO representative to Indonesia, said yesterday that Indonesia should focus on providing greater access for women to affordable and quality maternal health care services.
Farley cited a number of programs already undertaken by Indonesia to reduce the maternal mortality rate, including placing nearly 54,000 midwives in communities.
In addition to this, the Ministry of Home Affairs runs the Maternal and Child Survival Project, the National Family Planning Coordination Board operates the Prosperous and Healthy Reproductive Movement and the office of the State Minister of Women's Roles coordinates the Mother-Friendly Movement.
"As a result, coverage and access to primary health care services throughout Indonesia have been significantly improved," Farley said.
Antara also quoted Moeloek as saying that he would assure a steady supply of medicine, particularly generic drugs, for one year.
"The government is providing a US$116 million (Rp 700 billion at Rp 5,000 to the U.S. dollar) subsidy to the country's pharmaceutical companies for the import of drug raw materials," he said Wednesday after visiting state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Indofarma in Bekasi, some 40 kilometers east of here.
He said Bank Indonesia, the World Bank and the Singaporean government had guaranteed Indonesian letters of credit (L/Cs) to enable the country's pharmaceutical industry to import raw materials for medicine.
The Japanese government has also extended a grant for medicines and medical supplies worth Rp 80 billion to ensure their availability in Indonesian hospitals, he added.
Moeloek said the prices of various generic drugs had dropped by an average of 34 percent as of Feb. 18. Prices may go down again by another 19 percent, he said. (swe)