Problems of basic health services in the border areas of Indonesia’s Nusa Tenggara Timur Province

This study aims to learn about the implementation of health policies dealing with malnutrition, as well as the factors that drive and hinder the application of these policies, in the Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) Province of Indonesia (East Nusa Tenggara, in English). The results show that the border regions, specifically the Kupang and Timor Tengah Utara (North Central Timor) Regencies, suffer the worst conditions and have the greatest need for priority attention. Areas with better conditions are the Alor and Malaka Regencies, which should be given second priority. The Belu Regency produces better results than the other regencies and should be given third priority. Some programs and health service improvements must be carried out, such as the development and empowerment of Human Resources in the health sector, and improvement of the facilities and infrastructure of Community Health Centers (Puskemas) with their networks.