The Kotabaru Regency Government has taken a strategic step in addressing reproductive health issues by establishing the Reproductive Health Planning and Budgeting Coordination Team. Initiated by Bapperida Kotabaru, the formation of this team aims to cut bureaucratic red tape and align various cross-departmental policies to reduce the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), which remains a critical concern in the region.
The coordination meeting, which took place on Thursday (9/7) at the Bapperida Kotabaru office, involved various key agencies, including the Health Office, Diskominfo, DP3APPKB, and the Education Office. This cross-sectoral synergy is deemed crucial to ensure that maternal health programs do not run in fragmentation, but are integrated from the planning stage to budget allocation.
The Head of the Socio-Cultural, Government, and Human Development Planning Division at Bapperida Kotabaru, Hj. Rakhmawaty, emphasized that the formation of this team was driven by the urgency of Kotabaru's position in provincial statistics. Over the past few years, the regency has consistently ranked in the top three for the highest maternal mortality rates in South Kalimantan, necessitating more targeted policy interventions.
Echoing this sentiment, the representative of the Kotabaru Regency Health Office, Akhmad Saleh, welcomed the collaboration. He stated that the health sector has taken various technical measures, such as placing specialist doctors in community health centers (puskesmas). It is hoped that with integrated budget planning support from this new coordination team, efforts to manage pregnant women's health can become much more effective and reach all levels of society.
