World Contraception Day is observed every September 26.
"To commemorate the World Contraception Day this year, we are targeting 1.6 million KB acceptors throughout Indonesia," BKKBN head Hasto Wardoyo announced on Tuesday.
He emphasized that the target will need to be met to increase the average prevalence of modern contraceptive use to 60 percent.
"Before the pandemic in 2019, the average use of (contraceptives or the) Modern Contraception Prevalency Rate (MCPR) had not yet reached 60 percent, it was still at 59 percent," he informed.
According to him, the target of 60 percent modern contraceptive use was set considering that the use of contraception can help reduce stunting.
"The correlation between pregnancy spacing and stunting is very strong. The interval between the first birth and the next birth is highly related to stunting eradication," he pointed out.
He said that pregnancy spacing needs to continue to be socialized considering that the World Health Organization (WHO) mandates a minimum pregnancy spacing of 36 months.
Wardoyo further said that BKKBN still needs to reduce the number of unwanted births or unmet needs.
"We still need to reduce the rate of unmet needs. The total fertility rate based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) is 2.18, while due to the family information system data, it reached 2.14," he expounded.
According to him, the total fertility rate, namely the average number of women giving birth per child per year in Indonesia is in accordance with WHO standards.
Furthermore, in its efforts to serve 1.6 million acceptors, BKKBN is collaborating with the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI).
Deputy territorial assistant for regional resilience, social communications, and TNI service, Brigadier General Taufik Shobri, said that TNI has prepared around 500 health facilities to help make the program a success.
"We have prepared around 500 health facilities in advanced health services or primary health facilities to support BKKBN contraception services," he disclosed.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti P, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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