It is with the greatest of pleasure that Harapan Fian introduce Posyandu Jalanan – our mobile health clinic. Forged from the unprecedented challenges COVID-19 presented, Posyandu Jalanan was initiated in July, 2020 and will continue into the foreseeable future. Posyandu Jalanan currently operates out of the Harapan Fian office in Yogyakarta and in a slum area in Barbarsari.
Posyandu Jalanan’s main goal is to deliver health monitoring for babies, children and pregnant women, the most vulnerable groups of society in their most vulnerable periods. Sufficient and thorough monitoring ensures quick and precise responses in the event of a health emergency.
To fully understand the need for Posyandu Jalanan, one must understand the context of the downfalls in the Indonesian health care system. In Indonesia, the first level of the public health system is called Puskemas, the initial point of contact for citizens. To access Puskemas for free one must have health insurance, however without it most treatments are still affordable. When Puskemas is unable to administer adequate care, in the circumstance of complex or specialist cases, patients are then sent to a hospital – where health insurance is required and care is expensive.
To qualify for any type of health care – the individual must be in possession of a Kartu Tanda Penduduk (Residential Identity Card) an Indonesia specific card which proves citizenship, and allows access to many services. Without an identity card, there is no way in which one can register for Puskemas or any type of social health insurance. Those in street situations often do not have an identity card, making lack of access to services a harsh reality.
As COVID-19 spread through Indonesia and the impacts began to set in, the public health system became inundated and unable to attend to health issues that weren’t the respiratory virus. It became obvious that there was alternative health care needed, so Harapan Fian turned to the community to see what they were lacking – and from here came Posyandu Jalanan.
During 2020, Puskemas began to lack resources to supply the polio vaccine, with this being the only place that vaccinations are free – this vaccine at the hospital can cost up to 250,000 rupiah, a large cost for those already in vulnerable financial positions.
Harapan Fian learnt about this lack of vaccine from mothers sharing their concerns while attending Posyandu Jalanan. In response, contact was made with hospital doctors and potential donors, asking for their assistance to form a collaboration – ensuring mothers will not be made to pay excess amounts for their children to be vaccinated. This is just one of the many tangible positive changes Harapan Fian has made through Posyandu Jalanan.
Posyandu Jalanan will continue to grow and provide health care to more and more people across Yogyakarta, especially to the most exposed members of the community: toddlers, children and pregnant women on the street.
Harapan Fian aims, and hopes, that one day Posyandu Jalanan will become a program that is able to monitor and evaluate patients, adjust to the communities needs but also become a referral point to help patients access further help within the public health system.
If you would like to help Harapan Fian grow Posyandu Jalanan and improve the health of street people in Yogyakarta, get in contact with us via email, or make a donation via our website.
