Peter Taylor Presenter, Burning Desire – East Timor has one of the highest smoking rates in the world, with nearly two-thirds of its men hooked on the habit.

Dili – New data indicate that stunting among under-five children is being reduced in Timor-Leste, but experts warn much greater investment is needed in areas such as micronutrient suppl

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Amid controversy, the Surabaya City Council has passed a draft bylaw on the control of alcoholic beverage distribution.

Paulina Quintao – National Commission on Combating HIV/SIDA Timor-Leste (CNCS-TL) General Secretary Daniel Marcal has said education is key to combatting the rise of the rates of HIV/AI

Jakarta – Indonesia has made slow progress in improving the lives of mothers and their children in recent years, falling behind regional neighbors Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam

Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Health has begun a campaign to raise awareness of the context of draft laws to control the sale and use of cigarettes in order to get ideas about how t

Jenny Munro, ANU – West Papua, comprised of two provinces in eastern Indonesia, is home to the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the Asia Pacific.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) called on the government to raise the legal minimum age for marriage from 16 to 18 years old for females.

Jakarta – A coalition of NGOs has urged voters not to vote for candidates who oppose tobacco-control measures in the upcoming legislative election.

Jakarta – Experts say the Indonesian government is failing to protect people from the dangers of tobacco, as indicated by the slow progress in the ratification of the UN Framework Conve

Jakarta – Labor unions have accused the government and the Social Security Management Agency (BPJS) of failing to carry out a mandate, in accordance with the Constitution, which require

Jakarta – Indonesia and 10 other countries in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Southeast Asian region on Thursday celebrated being certified polio-free.

Herman Genie, Jakarta – The government has blamed pregnancy at a young age as the main contributor to Indonesia's high maternal mortality rate, saying that many young women are not read

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Bylaws banning and controlling liquor sales in shopping centers, hotels, restaurants and nightspots would not curb alcohol-related deaths because drinking w

Jakarta – Observers and experts from various sectors say that Indonesia needs to ratify the UN Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for long-term health and economic benefits.

Havana, Cuba – Cuban doctors in East Timor are drawing up a comprehensive strategy to fight Cancer based on the records on the disease collected by the medical brigade in that country a

Margareth S.

Markus Junianto Sihalolo, Jakarta – The Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) are engaged in a tug-of-war over the right to issue Halal certificates an

Jakarta – Women's ability to breastfeed is a national asset, and hence the state has a great responsibility to fully support the breastfeeding mothers' movement, a breastfeeding mothers

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – Four months before the implementation of a regulation requiring pictorial warnings on the dangers of smoking on cigarette packaging, efforts to comply appear to

Jakarta – With the majority of the public still unaware of the national healthcare program (JKN), the government initiative remains unpopular, two months after being implemented.

Paulina Quintao – The recent spread of HIV/AIDS poses a big threat to the entire population of Timor-Leste.

Jakarta – Two of three children with HIV/AIDS in Tanah Sereal, Tambora, had to be treated at house while the other child, a 6-year-old, who was in critical condition was treated at the

Alina Musta'idah, Jakarta – A legislator has demanded the overhaul of a city-run hospital in Bandarlampung, Lampung province, in the wake of the death of an elderly patient after he was

Basten Gokkon – Indonesia is facing setbacks in achieving its Millennium Development Goal of reducing the maternal mortality rate, due to a lack of health services for women during preg

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – As the government increases the budget allocation for health programs, graft has worsened in the sector, according to an antigraft watchdog.

The rollout of universal health coverage in Indonesia has been greeted with public enthusiasm, but health experts warn that inadequate funding could undermine the quality of care.

SP/Robertus Wardi & Edi Hardum, Bogor – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday launched the government's new health insurance scheme, the first step toward its target of cove

Novy Lumanauw – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday officially revoked two presidential decrees he had signed on Sunday, which allowed ministers and other high-ranking governme

Kennial Caroline Laia – State-owned health insurance firm Askes says it is ready to roll out Indonesia's first national health care insurance scheme early next month.

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The House of Representative's Legislative Body (Baleg) has rejected the Health Ministry's demand that it halt deliberations on the controversial tobacco b

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – Despite government efforts to combat malnutrition, the recently released basic health research (Riskesdas) shows an increase in the percentage of children

Dessy Sagita & Kennial Caroline Laia – A senior government health official has sought to distance himself from the controversy over a condom promotion campaign following opposition

Amir Tejo, Dessy Sagita & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A backlash against a government campaign to emphasize the importance of condoms as part of an HIV/AIDS awareness program could h

Paulina Quintao – Despite the outcry from the community for the government to ban cigarette advertising in public spaces, the Minister of Health said it won't be able to because there i

Nadya Natahadibrata and Arya Dipa, Jakarta/Bandung – Wednesday's national strike by doctors protesting a Supreme Court ruling that sentenced three doctors to 10 months in jail for the d

Margareth S.

Havana – A total of 246 medical students in Timor-Leste received their degrees today in that nation as a part of a joint project between the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba an

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – Copies of a national newspaper featuring a half-page tobacco advertisement on its front page was given away at an event held by the Health Ministry to com

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – As many as 1.7 million local girls and women under the age of 24 give birth annually, with nearly a half a million of them being teenagers, a representati

Aditya L.

Paulina Quintao – The Marie Stopes International Timor-Leste (MSI-TL) Clinic Coordinator Maria Fernanda Serra said mothers who have unsafe abortions risk their lives and could die if th

Jakarta – The National Family Planning and Population Board (BKKBN) has said the maternal mortality rate in Papua Province remains high.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Dina Manafe – Tobacco industry lobbyists and lawmakers are rebuffing demands for stricter regulation, saying such a move would end millions of livelihoods

Dessy Sagita – Indonesia's reluctance to impose stricter smoking regulations and accede to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has made it a global l

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has put additional pressure on the government to immediately ratify the Framework Convention on Tobac

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) has warned that the country could fail to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as it con

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – The government's universal healthcare coverage program is only three months away from its effective implementation scheduled for Jan.

Jakarta – A survey conducted by the National Commission on Child Protection (KPAI) has found that at least one in 10 Indonesian children decided to smoke after being exposed to tobacco

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – Indonesia has been ranked 100th out of 176 countries worldwide in terms of health equality for children, according to a report released by humanitarian or