Baltimore, Md. —For 30 years, across numerous initiatives, Jhpiego has worked to improve Indonesians’ access to the high-quality care that improves health and saves lives. At the start of a new decade, this work is expanding to reach the country’s youngest and most vulnerable, newborns and children, by strengthening the primary health care system where they receive most of their preventive, promotive, and curative services.
This year, Jhpiego, a global health non-profit and Johns Hopkins University affiliate, launched a new collaboration with the Pfizer Foundation to strengthen the health system in bustling Bogor District. Over three years, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the project will build on a strong foundation to bring primary health care (PHC) to the next level. This project is supported by the Pfizer Foundation[1] as part of its commitment to improving child health and addressing infectious diseases globally.
“I feel incredibly grateful that we’ve been given another opportunity to help support Indonesia’s vision for a healthier country,” said Dr. Leslie Mancuso, Jhpiego President and Chief Executive Officer. “Ending needless maternal and child deaths and reaching universal health coverage will never happen by chance. It will happen because we invest. Together with the Pfizer Foundation, Jhpiego is ready to support the government and to continue investment in this beautiful country, and the future of its citizens.”
PHC provides whole-person care for health needs throughout the lifespan, ensuring people receive comprehensive care— ranging from promotion and prevention to treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care—as close as feasible to their everyday environment. It is centered on the needs and preferences of individuals, families, and communities. In a country like Indonesia, where child mortality has dramatically improved, but remains stubbornly high in some areas, strengthened and expanded PHC can further reduce preventable deaths. PHC has proved to be a highly effective way to address the main causes of poor health today and the emerging challenges that threaten health and well-being tomorrow.
Together with the Pfizer Foundation, Jhpiego is putting clients and providers at the center of thinking and design of a new PHC model. This model employs innovative solutions to reduce barriers to access for the most vulnerable families, enabling clients to better self-diagnose and manage common childhood illnesses, and strengthening the skills of community health workers and village midwives to detect illnesses early and better facilitate appropriate referrals. The impacts of COVID-19 have made it even clearer how important PHC is in ensuring the health of newborns, infants, and children under five, and the project has adapted to bolster the resilience of the PHC system in the face of the pandemic. All of these efforts share common aims: empowering and enabling clients and community-level providers, and strengthening coordination and continuity across the PHC system. Engaging women, families, communities, and health care providers to set their own agenda creates well-informed communities that drive their own health decisions going forward, leading to improved health.
Increasing a community’s sense of ownership also ensures
that gains made in Bogor District are maintained and institutionalized across
the health system. By project end, the success of this approach and the shared learning
along the way—with intentional iteration, enhancement, and adaptation—will offer
a path forward to scale up winning strategies to additional districts and
health conditions. In this way, today’s efforts in Bogor will continue to
expand access to high-quality care for decades to come, positively impacting the
future of families throughout the region.
[1] The Pfizer Foundation is a charitable organization established by Pfizer Inc. It is a separate legal entity from Pfizer Inc. with distinct legal restrictions.