Public health information and statistics dissemination efforts for Indonesia on the Internet

OBJECTIVES: To elucidate current issues related to health statistics dissemination efforts on the Internet in Indonesia and to propose a new dissemination website as a solution. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Sources of statistics were identified using link relationship and Google™ search. Menu used to locate statistics, mode of presentation and means of access to statistics, and available statistics were assessed for each site. Assessment results were used to derive design specification; a prototype system was developed and evaluated with usability test. RESULTS: 49 sources were identified on 18 governmental, 8 international and 5 non-government websites. Of 49 menus identified, 33% used non-intuitive titles and lead to inefficient search. 69% of them were on government websites. Of 31 websites, only 39% and 23% used graph/chart and map for presentation. Further, only 32%, 39% and 19% provided query, export and print feature. While >50% sources reported morbidity, risk factor and service provision statistics, <40% sources reported health resource and mortality statistics. Statistics portal website was developed using Joomla!™ content management system. Usability test demonstrated its potential to improve data accessibility. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In this study, government’s efforts to disseminate statistics in Indonesia are supported by non-governmental and international organizations and existing their information may not be very useful because it is: a) not widely distributed, b) difficult to locate, and c) not effectively communicated. Actions are needed to ensure information usability, and one of such actions is the development of statistics portal website.