"We want to encourage advocacy steps for regional governments to build and increase understanding of the importance of reducing maternal mortality through the planning and budgeting approach," said Restuardy Daud, the ministry's Director General of Regional Development, on Thursday.
He said the PPT Kespro is implemented collaboratively with other stakeholders, including the National Population and Family Planning Agency and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).
Daud highlighted MMR in Indonesia, which had a high number of 305 per 100,000 live births in 2023, while the 2024 target is 183 per 100,000 live births, according to the Health Ministry.
According to him, maternal mortality is generally caused by medical complications.
"Medical factors do contribute greatly to maternal mortality, including bleeding, hypertension, pregnancy, infections, complications, and miscarriages, which are related to the health of pregnant women during pregnancy," he explained.
However, medical complications can also occur due to a series of events before a woman's pregnancy, which must be addressed properly, he added.
The PPT Kespro was initiated in 2022 through pilot projects in five districts: East Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, Jember in East Java, Brebes in Central Java, Garut in West Java, and Serang in Banten.
However, the program for this year modifies the earlier one, which was limited to family planning and health, by adding other components outside the health aspect.
"Reducing maternal or infant mortality rates cannot be carried out from the health aspect but also related to educational aspects, access to public services, gender approaches, preparedness or protection from disasters, and others," Daud said.
He expressed hope that integrated planning and budgeting with the community would ensure quality reproductive health services for women, teenage girls, pregnant women, couples, and families.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti P, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Anton Santoso
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