Indonesia - Indonesia may fail MDG on maternal mortality reduction: official

JAKARTA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- A senior official at Indonesia's Health Ministry said the country could fail its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing maternal mortality by 75 percent by 2015, due to the slow progress in improving the country 's family-planning program, a local media reported on Wednesday.

Slamet Riyadi Yuwono, director general of nutrition and child and maternal health at the Health Ministry, said the maternal mortality rate in Indonesia remained too high and the government ought to do more work to improve community-based maternal care as well as providing access to contraception.

"Our target is still off-track. We may be able to reduce the number of post-natal deaths to 162 per 100,000 live births by 2015, but that is far higher than the 102 per 100,000 live births targeted in the MDG," he said in Tuesday.

About 30 percent of maternal deaths are caused by obstetric hemorrhaging, making it the most common cause of maternal mortality.

"Women who give birth too often, bear children too young or have pregnancies too close together are at a higher risk of suffering from such obstetric problems," Slamet was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

He said improved family planning could decrease maternal mortality rates, as delayed childbearing, longer intervals between births and limited childbirth could protect women against any obstetric dangers.

According to the Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey (SDKI) in 2007, there were 228 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, making Indonesia the country with the highest maternal death rate in Southeast Asia.

Xinhua

Editor:Luo Yuan

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