How to Boost Child Survival in Indonesia's Remote Regions

Description

Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “of all of the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhumane.” Yet in the sprawling Indonesian archipelago, this unfortunately still is very much the order of the day.

Early-age mortality rates in Indonesia are above the region’s average: according to a 2013 UNICEF report, Indonesia ranks seven out of 11 Southeast Asian countries for its neonatal, infant and under-5 mortality. But there are substantial variations among Indonesia’s regions, with some, such as Ende district on the island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara, still having child mortality rates that are well above the global average.

A new study by Macquarie University, published in the Journal of Biosocial Science, provides new insights into mothers’ pregnancy and early-age survival experiences in the relatively underdeveloped Ende district. Our study found that most mothers have little knowledge about the danger signs of children’s illnesses and that only a very few mothers received such information during their antenatal visits. There are also reports of unprofessional attitudes by midwives. As a result, mothers have difficulties making health-related decisions. Indonesia’s hundreds of disparate districts face significant challenges in reducing child mortality and achieving universal health coverage by 2019, but our study in Ende suggests several priority areas for consideration.