Surabaya – Former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste (RDTL) Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao visited patients at the Indonesian hospital ship KRI Dr Soeharso (KRI SHS)-990, which is on

Surabaya, East Java – Indonesian navy warship KRI Dr. Soekarso (KRI SHS)-990 has arrived in Dili, Timor Leste, for a health service mission.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Tobacco Control has reported that there has been a dramatic increase over the past few years in the number of young smokers in the country.

Paulina Quintso – The Chief of the Department of Non-infectious Diseases, of the Ministry of Health, Dr Herculano Seixas do Santos has urged the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Environment (MCIA

Paulina Quintso – The Chief of the Department of Non-infectious Diseases, at the Ministry of Health, Dr Herculano Seixas do Santos said now the Tobacco Control Law has been approved by the Timorese

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Jakarta – Anti-tobacco activists joining with the Coalition against the Falsehood of the Cigarette Industry are calling on Industry Minister Saleh Husin to revoke a tobac

Arya Dipa, Bandung – West Java Police have expressed pessimism over the battle to effectively contain the distribution of oplosan (bootleg liquor) within its jurisdiction due to the absence of a re

Venidora Oliveira – Member of the National Parliament MP Josefa Alvares Soares urged the President of the National Parliament to schedule the debate of a drug law for Timor-Leste to prevent its fut

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Entering its third year, the national health insurance (JKN) continues to be plagued with financial woes.

Benny Mawel, Nduga – A scarcity of medical personnel in Indonesia's Papua province contributed to the mysterious deaths of 43 people, mostly children, in the Mbuwa area of Nduga distric

Ganug Nugroho Adi – A week after the world commemorated 'World AIDS day' on Dec 1, nine children living with HIV have been rejected from their new house in Surakarta, the home-town of P

Jakarta – More than 32,000 Indonesian women experienced unwanted pregnancies between 2010 and 2014, one of the highest figures among ASEAN countries, according to data from the World He

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The government is gearing up to revitalize its family planning (KB) program after being dormant for more than a decade, starting with the launch of KB vill

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Indonesia is witnessing a growing rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections among adolescents, the most vulnerable population, a UN Asia Pacifi

Jakarta – The Jakarta AIDS Prevention Commission (KPAP) has circulated data showing that Jakarta recorded the highest number of new HIV cases in the country this year.

Jakarta – The local administration of Luwu regency in South Sulawesi has banned the sale of condoms over concerns about teenagers having casual sex.

Indonesia's health ministry has apologised after a printing error led to a poster campaign claiming HIV can be transmitted through mosquito bites, swimming and sneezing.

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Seminyak, Bali – To protect women from unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, a stronger regulatory framework is needed to ensure sufficient access to sexual and reproduct

Khoirul Amin, Jakarta – The government's decision to raise excise on tobacco products by only around 11 percent next year has sparked public outcry as it would contradict the nationwide anti smokin

Paulina Quintao – The Deputy Program Manager of International NGO Marie Stopes International Timor-Leste (MSITL) Juliao da Silva said that over 12,000 women so far have received Family Planning ser

Jakarta – The Social Security Management Agency (BPJS) should be stricter with employers whose payments to its health program are in arrears, a watchdog has said, in order to stop the agency fallin

Paulina Quintao – The Deputy Program Manager of Marie Stope's International Timor-Leste (MSITL) Julio da Silva said the NGO has established mobile clinic units across the municipalities of Timor-Le

Paulina Quintao – The Deputy Program Manager of Marie Stopes International Timor-Leste (MSITL), Juliao da Silva, said the MSITL team has been raising awareness to students in basic and secondary sc

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Providing a conducive environment for the delivery of safe and legal abortions will prevent women from suffering complications from unsafe abortions, which are a maj

Jakarta – Facing fierce public criticism, the House of Representatives decided on Tuesday to drop articles endorsing kretek (clove cigarettes) in the current culture bill legislation.

Havana, Cuba – Having extended the Medical Program of the Family throughout East Timor by November 2016 is the aspiration of Rui Maria de Araujo, its Prime Minister, who takes the Cuban health syst

Hans Nicholas Jong, New York – Indonesia has pledged to support the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' health, a global road map launched by the UN to end the preventable deat

The government is set to revitalize its family planning (KB) program as roughly 4.5 million new babies, equal to 85% of Singapore's population, are born in the country annually.

Jakarta – More than 140 million women worldwide have experienced female genital mutilation, but not everybody knows that many of them live in Indonesia, where over half of girls under 11 are subjec

Paulina Quintao – The National Director of Autonomous Service for Medicines and Medical Equipment (SAMES), Odete Maria Belo said it has run out of some medicines because it is the responsibility of

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Indonesia's child mortality has declined substantially thanks to government and civil society interventions, a new global UNICEF report says.

In East Timor's national hospital in Dili, an Australian doctor checks the vital signs of an impossibly tiny baby girl, six months old, born prematurely and struggling to breathe through an acute r

Jakarta – Former Timor Leste president Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao has won the Excellence in Public Health Award from the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region for his breakthrough work

Jakarta – Indonesia has more than halved its child mortality rate in the past 25 years, but malnutrition remains a major hurdle, a new Unicef report shows.

Jakarta – A group of children staged a demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta on Friday, calling on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to protect them and their fellow Indon

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The latest fatwa from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) declaring the national health insurance (JKN) program to be in violation of sharia law is deemed to be misguid

Mark Colvin: One of our nearest neighbours, East Timor, is still so poor that many people lack even the most basic access to health care.

Jakarta – The government plans to start providing meals at certain state and private elementary schools around the archipelago to fight malnutrition and stunted growth.

Bernadette Christina & Randy Fabi, Jakarta – Indonesians are smoking less than before, and that poses a dilemma for a government that faces a budget shortfall as well as rising unemployment and

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – As the government expects more and more people to register for its National Health Insurance (JKN) program, a recent study has predicted a disastrous future for the he

Dili – Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo thanked the Cuban government and health collaborators for the support offered for over a decade.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government's main argument against raising the excise level for tobacco is that it will make cigarettes unaffordable for many Indonesians.

Jakarta – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said that Papua continues to lag behind in maternal health compared to other areas across Indonesia despite significant improvements in the

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – In a bid to increase company compliance with the National Health Insurance (JKN) program, from July 1, the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) will

Sita W. Dewi and Dewanti A.

Michael Bachelard – 'In June last year, seven doctors were sent to this town, but five didn't want to come. In September they tried to send another four and all four went back to Jakarta.'

Jakarta – Seventy percent of Indonesian smokers are teenagers, an expert said on Friday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Around 100 volunteers and social workers have been deployed to distribute free condoms in 180 known areas for sex transactions such as hotels, dormitories, rental roo

Jakarta – More than 30 tobacco brands put advertisements and promote their products in school areas, a survey by NGOs shows.

Dessy Sagita, Jakarta – Anti-tobacco activists have claimed Indonesia is walking away from the fight against nicotine addiction, thanks largely to the current government's reluctance to implement s