International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 79

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES
SPRING 2016
preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments. This definition
excludes behaviour not related to environment, as well as behaviour related to the
social and cultural environment, and genetics. (WHO, 2013)
This study investigated five key factors of environmental health and protection found by
local researchers to be most relevant to the context of NTT. Effendi (2013) lists five key
factors as crucial to guarding the environmental health of settlements: access to clean water,
adequate draining, sanitation, management of rubbish, roads and paving and access to
health facilities, markets and district capitals.
Environmental health in South Central Timor.
Timor Tenggah Selatan (TTS), or South Central Timor, is composed of 394,000 hectares of
land making it the third largest district in NTT (BPS NTT, 2012/2013). The district is also
composed of 32 Kecamatan or sub-districts and 278 kelurahan or village subunits (BPS NTT,
2012/2013). Located in the South-Central hills, the capital city of TTS, Soe and the
surrounding area sits at an altitude of 900+ metres above sea level. As a result of its higher
altitude (the 3rd highest in the province) the district of TTS experiences a cooler climate and
greater volume of rainfall than most other parts of Timor. Because of its mountainous
terrain, many of the sub-districts and villages in TTS are very remote and difficult to access.
As a result, many of these villages must also face a range of challenges in accessing health
services.
Not having access to trained medical staff has been proven to increase the risk of
maternal and neonatal death. In 2012 TTS recorded 25 maternal deaths (14.53% of the
entire province), the highest number recorded in NTT (NTT 2012). In the breakdown of
these figures, 16 of these deaths were attributed to loss of blood and hemorrhaging (BPS
NTT, 2013, pp. 152-155). A further three deaths were caused by hypertension during
pregnancy and four more were linked to infection (BPS NTT, 2013, pp. 152-155). These
conditions may have also been interrelated and mothers may have experienced two or
more of these illnesses as a cause of death.

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