Jakarta – Deputy Health Minister Ali Ghufron Mukti warned on Tuesday that maternal and infant deaths in Indonesia remained high despite improvements over the last few years.

Maternal and infant mortality rates, he said, were two of the main indicators of the general health among a country's people – indicators that have remained stubbornly high and difficult for the government to address.

"We must make maternal and child health care a priority," Ali told a national workshop on midwifery, held by the Health Ministry on Tuesday to celebrate this year's World Midwife Day, which fell on May 5.

Currently, the maternal mortality rate in Indonesia is still three to six times higher than other ASEAN member countries, although it has declined to 228 per 100,000 live births, the 2007 Indonesia Demography and Health Survey (SDKI) showed. The same data shows that the country's infant mortality rate has decreased to 34 per 1,000 live births in 2007, showing quite good progress. "Still, it is about two to five times higher than our neighboring countries in the region. I must say that the reduction of child deaths has stagnated," said Ali.

Extreme gaps between the rich and poor, as well as between rural and urban dwellers, still pose the most critical challenges and the still high numbers of infant and maternal deaths.