Banjarmasin (Antara Bali) - Indonesia's maternal mortality rate is still high as it is believed that almost every hour two Indonesian women die while giving birth, a senior family planning official said.
"If we add up the numbers, one can imagine how many Indonesian mothers die every day during delivery," Sudibyo, vice chief of the National Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), said here Tuesday at a meeting here with local ulema from throughout South Kalimantan.
He said according to a study on the quality of life of Indonesian people in 2011 the country's maternal mortality rate was 228 per 100,000 successful deliveries.
Meanwhile, the infant mortality rate among 0-11-month-old babies was 34 per 1,000 successful deliveries in a population of which 60 percent had only enjoyed elementary school or lower eduction and life expectancy was about 68/72 years.
"By comparison, in Japan the population's life expectancy has reached 100 years so that now 40 percent of the population consists of senior citizens," he said.
In its efforts to increase Indonesia's life expectancy and reduce the maternal mortality and infant mortality rates, the BKKBN was now holding training programs for 35,000 midwives, 10,000 general practitioners and gyneacologistsn.(IGT/T007)
