"Our public health centres have stepped up their service by innovating through a healthcare transformation strategy and implementing technology-based primary care," Harbuwono stated at a press conference to commemorate 2021 Mother’s Day broadcast by the Health Ministry's YouTube channel in Jakarta on Thursday.
The deputy minister highlighted the Mother’s Day commemoration on December 22 as the right momentum to deliver USG equipment to public health centres nationwide.
"We have distributed USG equipment to 447 public health centres this year, and we hope to be able to send another 4,180 devices next year," he stated.
The USG equipment would replace the traditional method of using a wooden rod to detect fetal movement often utilized in public health centres, the deputy minister noted.
"The application of sophisticated technology will replace the wooden rod method often used by midwives in the past," he remarked.
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Ultrasonography equipment that enables better fetal examination would allow earlier detection of health issues, including stunting, and nutritional intervention for mothers, Harbuwono affirmed.
"Hence, we could increase the pregnancy checks earlier performed four to six times throughout the pregnancy period," the deputy minister informed.
The deputy minister also pointed out that only USG equipment could detect possible risks to pregnancy, such as low-lying placenta that increases the risk of postpartum hemorrhage
Harbuwono expected that the equipment would help reduce the maternal death rate currently recorded at 308 per 100 thousand toddlers born out of five million pregnancies in Indonesia.
"Meanwhile, the National Mid-term Development Plan (RPJMN) mandated that the figures should be reduced to 185 per 100 thousand births by 2024," he added.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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