The U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Robert Blake, said during his work visit to the Dosay Community Health Center in Jayapura on Tuesday, the 8 million dollar fund had been donated to the districts of Jayapura, Jayapura City, Jayawijaya and Mimika.
"The purpose of this donation is to improve local health administration capacity, so that the health of mothers and children will be better protected, particularly from the threats of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis," Blake noted.
Through the United State Agency International Development (USAID), the U.S. government has been focusing on the work of health programs since March 2012, including the prevention of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Blake added that USAID also cooperated with UNICEF and local non-government organizations (NGOs) in promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.
"Papua has the highest rank in the spread of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia, which is estimated to rise to 2.3 percent. Unfortunately, this number is increasing among the commercial sex workers and laborers, hence we are also cooperating with our partners in promoting the use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS," he said.
The other program that is funded by the U.S. government is malaria disease prevention by using mosquito nets, which were distributed to the local residents in Papua and West Papua Province.
"We also support the efforts to inform the people who are sick to go to the community health center," he noted.
During his work visit, Ambassador Blake also praised chief of Jayapura District Mathius Awitouw for his supports to the USAID program in the region.
USAID in Papua provides technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and the National AIDS Commission to accelerate the use of effective prevention measures, and to strengthen capacity to gather and use strategic information in response to the epidemic.
USAID also helps local NGOs increase organizational capacity and expand the reach of HIV/AIDS health services, and works with UNICEF to improve maternal and newborn care and prevent malaria in pregnancy.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
