"USAID will partner with the Ministry of Health Indonesia, hospitals and health centers to save the lives of mothers and their children," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Scientific Affairs, Oceans and International Environmental Kerri-Ann Jones on Thursday.
He said the program is a five-year initiative to help prevent and treat complications in the delivery process and will impact positively on the first days of life newborn child.
"This effort is a major component of the US-Indonesia partnership. This will ensure that the mother and newborn child will receive necessary care, at the right place at the right time," said Jones.
The program is called "Expanding the Mother and Child Survival" (EMAS), which works to promote prosperity and improve understanding between the U.S. and Indonesia.
DG Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health Ministry said Slamet Riyadi Yuwono such assistance can be utilized to achieve the millennium development goals (MDG's) in 2015.
"With this help we will strengthen the management of pregnant women in particular by providing counseling and coaching," he said.
An estimated 10,000 women die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth every year in Indonesia.
Most of these deaths can be prevented by giving timely referral to the mother and children with complications at the central level of public health, proper care, quickly and effectively before and during the referral hospital referrals they receive.
In addition, the program will also be given health education on TB patients to provide a thorough understanding and diagnosis of this disease threat to society.
"So this is a very good thing, we build systems and models and in cooperation with the Ministry and officials concerned that the program can be socialized in the community," said Slamet.