Location: Kalimantan

Situation:
With more than 40 million inhabitants living below the poverty line, Indonesia is faced with a precarious health and socio-economic situation, further weakened by many natural disasters. In these circumstances, access to healthcare for the archipelago's isolated populations and shantytown residents remains difficult. Indonesia is still, therefore, dependent on humanitarian organisations to deal with the spread of infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis.

Activities:

Because of their distance from health facilities and the cost of river transport, the Punan Tubu do not have access to appropriate healthcare. Respiratory infections, epidemics, tuberculosis and infant mortality are the main health problems identified. Since 2006, three medical teams have visited each year and four vaccination campaigns have been carried out and nine community health agents-who have been able to organise education sessions in the Punan language-have been trained. Insecticidetreated bed nets have been distributed and we have started discussions with the Adat Punan association which represents the interests of the Punan population of Kalimantan.

Outlook:

As set out in the project plan, the final medical mission (mobile clinics and the fourth vaccination campaign) were organised in April 2008. This was done in collaboration with the staff of Pulau Sapi health centre who will take over Doctors of the World activities and run two mobile clinics a year.