Indonesia: Public Health Development Index as a tool for closing the gap of health inequity in Indonesia

In Indonesia health data are available from a number of sources, including:  Baseline health research, which is done in all districts in Indonesia covering basic health indicators and determinants; National socio-economic survey of the Indonesian households; and Village census (about local village resources such as health workforces, health facilities, and etc). Considering that Human Development Index is not comprehensive to be used to pin point what public health programs should be implemented at the local level to improve health status and to pin point the underdeveloped health  areas

Through discussion and statistics modeling, the Indonesian Public Health Index (IPHDI) was developed to better guide policy and practice to address health inequities. The IPHDI is a composite index of 24 health indicators, to determine the health development level and needs of each district in Indonesia. Then this information is used to identify low-ranking districts in need of particular attention, and to inform which types of health interventions would be most helpful in each district.

Based on the index, 109 districts and 21 cities in Indonesia have been identified with severe unmet health needs. All those districts are allocated financial resources and technical resources from the central ministry, to support further analysis to identify the causes of the low IPHDI, select priority public health program solutions, and plan and implement these programs.

Among the area with low IPHD are grouped into area that are not poor district and are belong to poor district. Those district with low IPHD as grouped as district with health problem. Out 33 provinces there are 10 provinces which have more than half of its district belongs to district with low IPHD. These province have priority to have technical and resource assistance from central ministry of Health.