The governor staff in the west Papua province said that the standard quality of mother and children health there must be improved. That becomes the major program.
It is especially for the local government through a program which is called SKPD. In a moment, he suggested that it must be transformed into the ‘touching’ project.
Besides that, public must be able to get the advantages directly, especially for the mother and children. Government always try to support the program as good as possible.
The allocation of special autonomy funds of 80 percent for districts / cities and provinces by 20 percent is a concern in improving the quality of maternal and child health standards.
That is why; the related staffs and parties in the west Papua should make the details. It means that how to run the program, make the plans, mechanism, and more.
A Solid Collaboration Is Always Needed
Other parties are also expected to collaborate and synchronize in executing the implementation of programs / activities. It is a crucial step to do.
So that monitoring and evaluation of the end of programs / activities will be easier. Those are the ones related to the maternal health in Papua to comply with the applicable rules.
There is the results of the Indonesian health demographic survey (SDKI) conducted by the Indonesian Ministry of Health in 2012 which contains indicators of health degrees that province.
The result is that the province, included the west Papua is still very concerning. They are in the top three position for the maternal mortality. That is based on the data released on 2014. The Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Agency of that place is expected to increase cooperation.
The coordination / consultation with BPP-KB in the district. Amidst that activity, the government gives some goods to the people. Those are like the baby blanket, scale, and some other useful things.
The Head of The Office of Women Empowerment and Child Protection of Papua Province, Anike Rawar gave her statement. She said that this meeting was held to evaluate the programs that have been carried out by posyandu cadres in Biak, Nabire, Mimika and Merauke districts.
West Papua Health Condition is Better
Elsewhere, the Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the achievements of health development in the special autonomous regions and West Papua have improved.
However ,those are still hampered by long-standing problems in the health sector. He said from 2002 to 2020 the development of human development index (HDI) rose.
It is especially over the past nearly two decades. That is if compared to other provinces equivalent to Papua and compared to the national average as well.
Likewise, the number of life expectancy (AHH) which is an indicator of health not only nationally but also regionally. It has the same positive trend.
Meanwhile, maternal and infant mortality rates have undergone significant improvements in the West Papua provinces when viewed based on the targets of the National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN).
The Long Standing Problems Need to be Solved
However, he acknowledged that there are still long-standing problems that have remained a scourge for years. Below Are some of those issues.
- The spread of infectious diseases
Papua and arounds have become the centers of infectious diseases. Those are especially the diseases like HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. A case for an example is malaria there which reached 72,198 in 2001. That was even accelerating sharply to 216,841 in 2020 and as many as 9,823 in the west Papua.
- The limited primary services
This is exacerbated by the lack of primary services such as health centers in 160 sub-districts In the province. That is although the ratio of health centers in both regions is above the national average.
The government has a plan that at least in two years period, the while regions in Indonesia must have the proper primary services. It is a crucial thing to do. It is known that the primary services are always needed by the small areas.
It is especially the kinds of services which are quite affordable. That is why; government should promote the national insurance program for the people. It must have the cheap premiums or even free.
That will be helpful for the society and the people in a small area. However, it must be noted that the quality of the service must be good although it is free.
- The lack of doctors
It can not be denied that the geographical condition of west Papua is quite difficult. It needs more energy and money to go there. It is one of the reasons of why the amount of doctors there are less.
They only recorded a ratio of 0.3 per 1,000 inhabitants. In fact, on average in Asia it takes one doctor per 1,000 population. The government must find any solutions to add the amount of doctors in the west Papua.
