Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The state of health of the Indonesian people in general seems to have been improving only at a slow pace over the past few decades.

Low education, low income, difficult geographic access, cultural problems, and inadequate health care financing are considered responsible for the slow improvement of the people`s health in the country.

Therefore, the government plans to hasten the implementation of its health improvement program in remote and border areas to provide the local people with better health care services.

During her working visit to West Kalimantan on Friday, Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on he health improvement program would be signed soon.

"We will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the health improvement program in remote areas, border areas, and smaller islands," Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said in the West Kalimantan city of Pontianak on Friday.

She said the signing of the MoU would be followed up by real action to improve health services for the people living in those areas.

According to the minister, the government had to make all possible efforts to speed up the health improvement program because people`s access to health care services in most of the isolated areas in small islands across the country had not improved as rapidly as expected.

"The state of health of people in remote areas in general is still low while we have limited human resources, funds, infrastructure, and facilities," the health minister said.

She said the objectives of the "Healthy Indonesia 2010" program had forced the health
and social welfare ministries to forge collaborative relationships with each other.

As health is a shared responsibility, the two ministries must involve all strata of the community, all related government departments and agencies, and the private sector.
In the effort to achieve "Healthy Indonesia 2010," the two ministries must also be proactive and forward-thinking.

There are 33 provinces in Indonesia which are sub-divided into sub-districts, and each one has at least one health center headed by a doctor, usually supported by two or three sub-centers, the majority of which are headed by nurses.

Meanwhile, West Kalimantan Vice Governor Christiandy Sanjaya also admitted that difficult geographic access, cultural problems, and inadequete health care financing also posed a serious problem in West Kaliamantan.

"Geographic access in West Kalimantan is difficult, public transportation and facilities are limited, and health service access is low because of the limited number of health personnel," Sanjaya said.

He said allocation of regional budget (APBD) to improve health services in the remote and isolated areas was also low in amount.

"Therefore we hope there is support from the central government," Sanjaya said, explaining that there were five areas in West Kalimantan bordering with Malaysia, namely Entikong in Sanggau district, Nangabadau in Kapuas Hulu district, Aruk in Sambas district, Jagoibabang in Bengkayang district, and Jasa in Sintang district.

He said infectious diseases and the others that can be prevented through immunization still posed serious problem in those five border areas in West Kalimantan.

"At Sajingan clinic in the past three years there were frequent extraordinary cases of measles because many children there missed measles immunization," Sanjaya said.

Meanwhile, Vice President Boediono during a visit to Bekasi, West Java, on Friday also said the government Health Operational Assistance (BOK) at hospitals would be improved to reach Puskesmas (community health centers) and Posyandu (integrated health service posts).

In a dialog with health officials in Bekasi on Friday, Vice President Boediono said the health operational assistance would reach Puskesmas this year and Posyandu next year.

"This year, the Health Operational Assistance is expected to reach the community public health centers and by next year it will reach integrated health service posts," the vice president said.

Boediono said that for the operational funds for Posyandu, a community based vehicle to improve child survival and development, he would not promise but make every effort to make it possible in accordance with state financial condition.

"The governors and mayors will think about the operational funds problem," Boediono said, adding that Puskesmas and Posyandu officials as well as those who had concern about government program in health sector would spearhead the improvement of community health level.

He also expressed his appreciation to health workers who have worked hard to give health services to the community.

The vice president pointed out that health and education should go together and support each other.

He said health issue was likened to the hardware system while education was likened to the software system, and if the hardware capacity was insufficient, nothing would happen and if the software system was not optimally exploited, it would be useless.

Therefore the vice president asserted that both health and education issues were the primary concern of the government at present to have them improved.
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Editor: Bambang
COPYRIGHT © 2012

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