Indonesia Promotes Mother, Child Health Quality to Achieve MDGs

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia, represented by the president’s special emissary on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Prof. Dr. dr. Nila Moeloek Sp.M, revealed its views regarding the importance of mothers’ and children’s health as the essence of sustainable development at the forum of 'The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PNCH) Round Table: Women and Children at the Center of the Post-2015 Development Agenda', hosted by the World Health Organization. The forum is part of the biennial Global Donors Forum agenda on Celebrating Philanthropy in Emerging Countries, which invites philanthropists from Muslim countries.

"The millennium development essentially focuses on human development, where health is the core. Furthermore, mothers' and children's health is the basic leverage that will determine other MDGs achievement. Countries that are successful in improving mothers' and children's health are proven to be successful in achieving other MDGs," said Prof. Nila.

Prof. Nila emphasized that health and population dynamics are key factors of a successful development. If the number of population went uncontrolled, it would affect the population's health quality. On the other hand, poor health condition would affect the human development index. Therefore, investing in mothers' and children's health would provide a significant benefit for a country’s economic and social development.

Through this forum, Indonesia also suggested that controlling population growth and ensuring health, nutrition, education and rights for mothers and children as a high risk group, can only be done by a top-down or bottom-up cooperation between the government, public elements and businesses.

"We're calling on the importance of a sustainable partnership as a conduit of the global development framework implementation at the national level and the community level," she said.

In the event, Indonesia claimed that it will prioritize the 'Pencerah Nusantara' program, a youth movement in the outer regions of Indonesia, which is an example of smart and innovative practice in disseminating the global development framework to grassroot communities.

Prof. Nila explained that "the Pencerah Nusantara program will put health as the focus of welfare improvement through multiparty, multi-profession and multilevel collaborations. Health would be the starting point of the program for a fair and sustainable development, as well as its wide spectrum." (*)