 Indonesia
BACKGROUND
Following the Asian economic crisis of 1997 and the political upheaval of 1998, Indonesia has continued to face economic, political and social instability. While on the whole Indonesia has witnessed overall improvements in health, the country still faces serious health risks including: high rates of TB and malaria increasing health risks among youth (HIV/AIDS and use of condoms, smoking); lack of hand washing to prevent child morbidity and mortality rates and heightened concerns over the recent SARS scare. Indonesia has attempted a major shift in its health paradigm, focusing on moving away from a curative model to one based more on prevention and health promotion; decentralizing health decision making to the district level; making health a priority on the family, community, provincial and national "agendas"; recognizing that while the government is an important part of the health solution, the country cannot succeed without strong participation from the NGO, private and commercial sector, and; recognizing that people are the producers of health and that public demand will ultimately drive the future of health interventions in Indonesia.
The overall goals of the Healthy Indonesia Coalition (Koalisi Untuk Indonesia Sehat--KUIS) include: (1) making prevention and health promotion a priority at the national, provincial, and district levels; (2) protecting and increasing government investment in preventive health at local and national levels; (3) increasing public demand for improved health status and quality health services; (4) increasing community participation in local health decision making and programs; and (5) strengthening the role of the private sector in advancing the health agenda.
In an effort to review progress and propose modifications, a review team visited Indonesia in February 2003. The review team recommended that in the next two to three years, KUIS will focus on consolidating the rapid growth achieved in a short time while managing the momentum generated in many more districts desiring to set up their own local coalitions. KUIS will expand its capacity to seek synergies with many other related programs in the field and strengthen its capacity to document program results.
USAID/Indonesia Intermediate Results for KUIS (developed 5/03):
- IR 1 Growth in local governments' allocation of resources to public health
- IR 2 Increased technical and management capacity of coalitions and communities to advocate for preventive health policies and programs
CURRENT STATUS
KUIS has contributed some noteworthy results to help improve health in Indonesia. This includes: stimulated formulation of 55 volunteer-based provincial and district coalitions; recruitment of over 100 institutional members with strong corporate involvement generating nearly $800,000 in complementary funding; trained and oriented over 3,200 people throughout Indonesia; reached an audience of several million with public health messages through mass media; engaged national parliament to provide technical assistance in redrafting the national health laws; and began implementing "households as producers of health" community-based health programs.
ACTIVITIES
Contact: Edson Whitney, ewhitney@jhuccp.org
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