Remote villages to have better access to health services
Remote villages to have better access to health services
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Manling, short for mantri keliling, or mobile male nurses,
will soon color the local vernacular in villages in Lebak
regency, Banten, and later on throughout Indonesia, as the
Ministry of Health plans to make them available in remote areas
across the country.
The mobile nurse program is a pilot project initiated by Lebak
regent Mulyadi Jayabaya in an effort to bring much-needed health
services to inhabitants of remote areas.
"Before there were manling, usually we had to take ojek (a
motorcycle taxi) that cost Rp 75,000 (about US$8) to take us to
the nearest community health center (Puskesmas), which is about
two kilometers away," said Bambang, 42, a resident of Cileles
village in Lebak, who had just received his health insurance
card.
"Although the old service was free of charge, the cost of
transportation made us reluctant to seek health care, even when
needed," he said.
He also complained that his village's health center only
opened on Mondays and Thursdays. "The joke among villagers was
'don't fall sick on any other day' because it will be very
expensive," he said.
Now he feels less anxious, as 40 traveling male-nurses,
recruited and trained by the local regency administration, are
ready to ride their motorcycles and regularly visit the area
along with some other 149 underdeveloped remote villages in the
regency.
"We really need an accessible service like this," Bambang
said.
Data from the ministry shows that as of 2004, there were 7,452
community health centers throughout the country, including 22,002
secondary centers, 26,975 maternity clinics and 5,818 four-wheel
mobile health centers, with at least one nurse assigned to each.
However, the seemingly large number of health centers and
workers does not necessarily guarantee proper health care for all
the population, as villagers in remote areas have difficulty
accessing them.
"If this first project succeeds, we will make this a national
program, as it would be no use providing free health services for
the poor when they can't access it," Minister of Health Siti
Fadilah Supari said earlier this week during a visit to Lebak
regency.
Lebak health agency head Djaja Buddy explained that ideally a
village should have at least one mobile male nurse, who would be
equipped with a standard medical kit and who could provide care
in minor cases. They would refer emergency cases to the nearest
doctor, in addition to educating the public on health care.
"The nurses will be trained to maintain high mobility and
competence in dealing with minor cases," Buddy said, adding that
one motorcycle, including the medical kit, cost Rp 14.5 million.
Considering that currently there are 36.2 million people
living in 10,600 underdeveloped villages in need of free and
accessible health services, the government will have to set aside
more than it had previously planned. (003)