Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – Indonesia is facing the double burden of malnutrition that refers to the coexistence of both undernutrition and overnutrition affecting its children's hea

Carlos Paath – The government has hailed the passage of new legislation that it says will tackle the chronic shortage of doctors serving Indonesia's rural and underdeveloped areas.

The Minister of Health Sergio da Costa Lobo said there are a lot of possibilities for private investment in the health sector, so they can better develop quality health assistance in th

Dili – Greater efforts are now needed to tackle the many challenges women face in accessing health care in Timor-Leste, which has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios (MMR) in t

The East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin has over the last few years published several reports on cases of babies being abandoned by their mothers in East Timor.

Dili – More work is needed to improve nutritional behaviour in Timor Leste, where 58 percent of children under five are stunted (too short for their age) due to chronic malnourishment,

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The National Commission on Tobacco Control (KNPT) alleged on Friday that the deliberation of the tobacco bill at the House of Representatives' Legislative

Efforts to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in the Indonesian provinces of Papua, which has among the country's highest rates of infection, and West Papua are making steady though slow progr

A grass-roots campaign to snuff out Indonesia's ubiquitous tobacco advertising is gaining traction online as thousands of anti-smoking advocates urged the Ministry of Technology and Com

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A number of activists grouped under the Indonesian Kretek Community (KKI) staged a rally in Medan, North Sumatra, not to commemorate World Anti-Tobacco Day on F

Dessy Sagita – Five-year-old Bayu was watching a movie on television. During the ad break, a barrage of cigarette ads streamed across the screen.

Sita W.

Jakarta – An activist says that new Health Minister Regulation No.

Randy Fabi & Nilufar Rizki, Jakarta – When a sick Indonesian baby died after 10 hospitals in Jakarta turned her family away in February, critics blamed a pilot health insurance sche

Lenny Tristia Tambun – Eleven Jakarta hospitals announced on Friday that they backed out of the Jakarta Health Card program, saying that growing numbers of patients have exceeded their

Dessy Sagita – Though Indonesia has made significant progress in saving the lives of newborns over the past two decades, the country has been struggling to rescue mothers during childbi

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The Health Ministry said Maluku, North Maluku, Papua and West Papua had the lowest rate of vaccination and births without the assistance of health workers

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Sixty-one residents of Samenage hamlet in Helenga district, Yahukimo, Papua, are reported to have died between January and March this year due to a variet

Robert Isidorus, Jayapura – Sixty-one people have reportedly died in the past three months in the Samenage district of Yahukimo, Papua, due to the lack of health-care facilities.

Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi has called Indonesia's family planning program a failure for its inability to control the country's fertility rate.

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi has said that the Education and Culture Ministry should address the spread of HIV/AIDS by providing proper sex and reproducti

Jon Afrizal, Jambi – Abortion among women in Jambi City has become so prevalent that from 2011 to 2013, 40 percent of unwanted pregnancies ended in abortion.

Robert Isidorus & Dina Manafe, Jayapura/Surabaya – Activists in West Papua province say that up to 95 people have died of hunger in Tambrauw district since last November, with hundr

Nadya Natahadibrata and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – A non-governmental organization (NGO), National Papua Solidarity (NAPAS), urged the government to investigate the cause of death of

Ezra Sihite & SP/Jeis Montesori – Indonesian government officials have denied a recent allegation that dozens of people in a Papuan district died after suffering from severe malnutr

SP/Dina Manafe, Surabaya – The recent closure of half of Surabaya's red light districts has prompted worries about the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the city, as sex workers will no lon

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Depok – Hundreds of housewives and their children staged a protest outside the Depok municipality office on Wednesday over the implementation of the administration's h

Indonesia is seeking to boost its community mental health services in an effort to end the lockdown and shackling of thousands of mental health patients.

Margareth S.

Lenny Tristia Tambun & Dessy Sagita – The recent death of a newborn baby who was denied treatment by 10 Jakarta hospitals has raised questions about the readiness of providers to co

Sita W.

According to statistics from the UN agency and UNICEF, malnutrition in Timor-Leste has risen to 58 percent.

Dessy Sagita – Misperceptions about freedom of expression and gender equality have been blamed for the growing number of female smokers in Indonesia.

Kusumasari Ayuningtyas, Klaten, C.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is bucking a United Nation's campaign to ban female circumcision, demanding that the government keep the practice legal.

The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) spoke out against the Ministry of Health's refusal to ban female circumcision on Monday, calling the practice, which

Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) and a number of Islamic mass organisations oppose attempts to ban female circumcision by any groups on the grounds that it represents a reli

Charlotte Greenfield – Baby Rivona is a 45-year-old mother of two who lives in Jakarta. She is a busy woman.

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jayapura – Consumer protection activists have pushed the government to immediately require cigarette manufacturers to put pictorial warnings on their packaging por

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Anti-tobacco organizations have expressed concern that the tobacco control regulation will do little to wean the country off its cigarette addiction.

Jakarta – Tobacco industry lobbyists have urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to revise the draft government regulation (RPP) on tobacco control, saying that the president should t

Brook Sabin – The busiest doctor in Timor has made a plea for help to New Zealand, inundated with patients who are dying needlessly.

Dessy Sagita – Almost half of pregnant Indonesian women chose to give birth at home in 2012 rather than at health facilities that could help minimize infection risks, according to the H

Nivell Rayda – Health issues have always been a prickly subject in Indonesia and this year was no exception as the country mourned the loss of a minister, heatedly debated the need for

Married women make up the majority of customers to abortion clinics in Indonesia, according to the Indonesian Family Planning Association.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – The total number of reported cases of people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua has topped 13,000, with 150 of the new cases involving infants below the age of fi

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – HIV/AIDS advocacy groups have called for an integrated effort to protect HIV-positive women from becoming the targets of violence.

Jakarta – As much as 70 percent of the government's budget for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs come from foreign donations, making the nation's fight against the disease vuln

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Despite massive campaigns in the past five years, the government has failed to convince more people to use contraceptives, a survey has shown.

A new health project in East Timor is hoping to harness the power of the mobile phone to promote better infant and maternal health.