Institutional Arrangement in Public Health Services for Handling Malaria: Evidence from Indonesia

Abstract

This article describes the arrangement of public service institutions that were introduced, promoted, and actualized by the local government of Teluk Bintuni Regency, West Papua Province of Indonesia. The research method used is descriptive-qualitative. Data collection was carried out through observation and experience at the research locus, interviews with informants as public service providers with community members suffering from malaria, as well as conducting document searches on the institutional arrangement of services and handling of malaria. The data, information, and knowledge obtained were analyzed using descriptive-quantitative analysis techniques. The results showed that the institutional arrangement of public services in the health sector in handling malaria in Teluk Bintuni Regency, West Papua Province, Indonesia was carried out using methods, approaches, and systems that had been considered effective. The effectiveness of this institutional arrangement can be seen through the implementation of the Early Detection and Treatment (EDAT) system which has been applied since 2010. In 2018, this system received an award from the United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) in Morocco, which is a prestigious award in the field of public services in the United Nations. Previously this system won an innovation award held by the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform of the Republic of Indonesia in 2017. Thus, institutional arrangements are needed to actualize and replicate the EDAT system in handling malaria and other diseases with similar characteristics.