TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Empowering local govts and villages in family planning

Long-term contraceptive: A young married woman in East Lombok gets an implant, a long-acting contraception method, as part of family planning services provided by trained midwives at a community health center (Puskesmas)

Rita Widiadana (The Jakarta Post)
Wed, August 19, 2015

Share This Article

Change Size

Empowering local govts and villages in family planning

L

span class="inline inline-center">Long-term contraceptive: A young married woman in East Lombok gets an implant, a long-acting contraception method, as part of family planning services provided by trained midwives at a community health center (Puskesmas).

Every day, Rokhliana has to provide basic health care and maternal health services including pre-and post-natal care and family planning services at a community health center in East Lombok as well as in her own private home.

'€œA midwife must be able to do everything from delivering babies, treating their mothers to offering family planning services. Not to mention, when we have to deal with ordinary patients with illnesses, only a doctor is licensed to cure them,'€ said Rokhliana, chairperson of the East Lombok chapter of the Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI).

In villages, a midwife has always been regarded as a '€œsuper woman'€ or perhaps a super '€œdoctor'€. In Indonesia'€™s family planning program, midwives are at the forefront of delivering services.

Midwives were responsible for delivering 80 percent of knowledge, information and family planning services, all over Indonesia, one study has concluded.

'€œBut since decentralization was enacted, many of us became confused and faced an uncertain future. We once worked under the coordination of the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), now we are attached to regional health agencies,'€ added Sri Arnani, chairperson of IBI in Kediri, East Java.

At the same time, Utun Supria, head of East Lombok Health Agency, was overwhelmed by the new job responsibilities that he and his staff had to handle.

In 2001, Indonesian enacted a decentralization policy, delegating more authority from the central government to provincial and district governments. This also applied to BKKBN, once the linchpin for family planning programs in Indonesia.

'€œOnly 22 out of 500 regencies have independent BKKBDs or Regional offices of the National Population and Family Planning Board,'€ said Surya Chandra Surapaty, chairman of BKKBN.

Spreading awareness: A field officer with the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), accompanied by a Kader Desa volunteer, disseminates information on the benefits of family planning during a weekly Koran recitation session in East Lombok. The success of family planning in Indonesia is heavily attributed to the crucial roles of field officers and volunteers.
Spreading awareness: A field officer with the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), accompanied by a Kader Desa volunteer, disseminates information on the benefits of family planning during a weekly Koran recitation session in East Lombok. The success of family planning in Indonesia is heavily attributed to the crucial roles of field officers and volunteers.

However, Hari Fitri Putjuk, country representative from Johns Hopkins'€™s Bloomberg School of Public Health'€™s Communication Program (CCP) Indonesia, said that it was a good thing that some provinces and regencies had shown their commitment to continuing family planning programs.

Johns Hopkins has been in partnership with the Indonesian government in the promotion of family planning in the country since 1986.

The joint programs include: '€œCondoms 25'€ or '€œDua Lima'€ contraception, Lingkaran Biru (Blue Circle), the Bidan Delima midwife program, Desa Siaga (Alert Program) and Suami Siaga (Alert husband).

To revitalize and strengthen the country'€™s stagnant family programming, the Indonesian government has signed a memorandum of understanding that included fresh financial and technical assistance valued at around US$40 million from the university, alongside support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Institutes for Population and Reproductive Health. The assistance will be bundled into a four-year program starting in 2014.

To accelerate family planning program at the district level, a District Working Group (DWG) was established in every regency, whose members comprised officials from local governments, including those in local BKKBN offices, health agencies, professional organizations such as the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), Midwives'€™ Association (IBI), Chief Villages, Field Officers, members of PKK village'€™s women'€™s empowerment groups and community and religious leaders.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.