Jayapura, Jubi – UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Puras held a meeting with Provincial Leaders Communication Forum (Forkompimda) of Papua Province to collect data on healthcare services in West Papua.
“Before I came here, we’ve done a lot of preparation. So we have been coordinating with Indonesian government in this regard that some agencies allow this visit,” said Puras in Jayapura, Friday (31/3/2017).
He said he will will make a full report and submitted them to the central government, “I was informed that cases of infant mortality and children are high, as well as HIV-AIDS, so the recommendation to the central government will relies on the central government, whether to use it or not.”
He also noted that health services in Papua required improvement by local government. “It is important to find solutions related to health services in Papua, how the services can be helpful to patients.”
Secretary of Papua Provincial Health Department Silfanus Sumule on the occasion claimed that in general indicators of health services in Papua have shown a change for the better. But he admitted that it was a bit late.
“For that we need acceleration. As supporting data we can convey that maternal mortality rate in Papua has declined. In 2013 there were 575 per 100 thousand live births, but in 2016 the rate down to 380 per 100 thousand live births. It’s a significant drop. But when compared to other provinces in Indonesia it is indeed still very high,” said Sumule.
owever, the one day visit of Dainius Puras is responded skeptically by Papua House of Representatives Chairman, Yunus Wonda.
Yunus Wonda believes the arrival of the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations (UN), is not entirely going to answer health issues in Papua.
“The arrival of this team is focused only in Jayapura City with a very short time, while the real problem of healthcare in West Papua is in the mountainous region,” Wonda told reporters in Jayapura, Friday (31/3).(*)
Reporter: Alexander Loen
Editor: Zely Ariane
