Merauke – The number of women dying in childbirth has risen in the past two years. In 2005, the rate was 464 per 1000,000 births which rose to 499 in 2006. In the previous years, the numbers were declining. In 2001 the figure was 1,071 and 529 in 2003 and fell to 202 in 2004.

An official of the Merauke health service said the reason for the increase was that many health workers who work in the villages have been transferred to other districts following the creation of more district administrations, with the result that there were no medical staff in the villages. Another reason was that many health workers had abandoned their posts. The official said that people had either been transferred or they had left of their own will.

He said that there had been many attempts to recruit nurses and midwives but there was little interest to work in these places. "They dont want to work in remote areas, they only want to work in towns," he said. "When we invite people to work in the towns, hundreds come forward," he said.