Johns Hopkins affiliate Jhpiego strengthens maternal and newborn health care services in Indonesia's Aceh Tengah District
$330,000 grant helps school in the tsunami-affected province of Aceh
11 January 2007
 Jakarta,
Indonesia—Jhpiego, an international health affiliate of The Johns Hopkins University, has received
a three-year grant of US$330,000 from GlaxoSmithKline to improve the availability and quality of maternal
and newborn care services in Aceh Tengah District. The program was launched today at offices of the
Ministry of Health (Pusdiknakes) during an event attended by representatives of Pusdiknakes, the Takengon
Midwifery Academy (Akbid Takengon), The Indonesia Midwives Association (Ikatan Bidan Indonesia),
GlaxoSmithKline and Jhpiego.
In Aceh, the quality of maternal and newborn health services was significantly affected
by the 26 December 2004 earthquake and tsunami. Given years of conflict and isolation from other provinces
in Indonesia, Aceh suffered from a weak health infrastructure even before the tsunami. In a region
where midwives provide 80-90% of maternal and newborn care in both the public and private sectors, it
is essential to strengthen the capacity of midwives in order to improve the overall quality of services
for women and their families. The isolation experienced by Aceh pre-tsunami exacerbated the lack of
capacity of the health training institutions to prepare midwifery students to meet national standards
of service delivery. There is thus a need to support these training institutions in their efforts to
improve education, training and clinical practice for their midwifery students so that these graduates
are able to serve their communities effectively and appropriately.
Jhpiego and its local partners will help the Central Aceh district (Aceh Tengah) to
strengthen its midwifery school. In 2003, the midwifery academy was established by the district health
office to train midwives to assist women and children in the district. Yet the school is faced with
enormous challenges, due to lack of qualified faculty and minimal resources. With funding from
GlaxoSmithKline, Jhpiego will assist the school by improving the skills and knowledge of the faculty
and supplying the school with necessary teaching equipment and materials.
GlaxoSmithKline is committed to being a good corporate citizen and takes seriously its
social responsibility. "With Jhpiego partnership, we will provide resources to support
quality midwifery
education in scale-up in Aceh Tengah; we expect this initiative will improve the quality of life
woman and their family in Aceh," said Mr. Patrick Ng, President Director of GSK Indonesia.
"Jhpiego has been on the front lines in Indonesia for more than three decades, and our
commitment has only intensified since the tragic earthquake and tsunami struck in 2004. We are extremely
grateful to GlaxoSmithKline and all our partners in Indonesia for helping make the program at Akbid
Takengon possible. Giving midwives the tools to care for women and children will strengthen Aceh
Takengon district for generations to come and give the community hope for better days ahead," said Dr.
Leslie Mancuso, President and CEO of Jhpiego.
About Jhpiego
For 35 years, Jhpiego, (pronounced "ja-pie-go"), has empowered front-line health
workers by designing and implementing simple, low-cost, hands-on solutions that
strengthen the delivery of health care services, following the
household-to-hospital continuum of care. We partner with community- to
national-level organizations to build sustainable, local capacity through
advocacy, policy and guidelines development, and quality and performance
improvement approaches.
About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline—one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and health care companies—is
committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.
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