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Taboos, low awareness hinder women's reproductive health in Indonesia: Study
A study on women's reproductive health and the national health insurance shows that many Indonesian women put off medical checkups, which could lead to late diagnoses and treatment and increased public healthcare costs.
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Women's reproductive health still remains a taboo topic in Indonesia, a recently published study has found. (Shutterstock/File)
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four-year study from 2015-2018 by the Women’s Health Foundation (YKP) that surveyed reproductive health services in 15 regencies and municipalities has revealed that health facilities are grappling with changing policies and the discriminatory treatment of insurance holders.
The study also indicated a lack of general knowledge about the health services covered by the National Health Insurance (JKN).
The YKP, along with the Network of Women Concerned About Health (JP2K), initiated the study over growing concerns about women’s reproductive health in Indonesia, with 305 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births as reported in the Health Ministry's 2015 Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas).
YKP chairwoman Herna Lestari said that women were generally satisfied with reproductive health services, but many issues still needed to be addressed because reproductive health remained a taboo subject in Indonesia.
The study primarily evaluated the reproductive health services covered by the JKN, which has been administered by the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) since January 2014.
According to the study, women with JKN coverage showed a tendency to delay seeking reproductive health services for a variety of reasons, with the main reasons being embarrassment, family or relatives influencing their decision, slow insurance processing at health centers and a general lack of knowledge of reproductive health services.
Poor awareness and social stigma were other causes of delayed medical checks that the respondents cited.
