BREXIT: Braille E-Ticket and Extraordinary Access for Visual Disabilities, Inclusive Innovation from Malang

There are many ways to implement and achieve “Leaving No One Behind,” the motto of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For local government of Malang (East Java), it translates into an innovation called BREXIT, standing for Braille E-Ticket and Extraordinary Access for Visual Disabilities.

As what the term suggests, BREXIT aims to ensure that existing health services are accessible to local people with visual disability. Through BREXIT, local government of Malang provides facilities for local people with visual disability to independently and easily access the health facility.

Facilities provided include guiding block heading to community health centre, guiding carpet inside the health centre (as guidance to various points), as well as incorporating braille letter on sign boards of registration counter, health check counter, and medicine counter. Besides, braille letter is also put on medicine prescription and packaging so that patients with visual disabilities can get and understand the information on the treatment that given to them, such as medicine brand/name, direction for use and expiration date.

Innovation that has begun in 2017 has positively contributed to the betterment of people’s quality of life. Statistics shows that the number of people with visual disabilities (total of 150) who independently access the health centre has increased from 7 to 106 persons.  This innovation has also contributed to the spread of knowledge so that more and more people with visual disabilities understand the medicine usage (increased from 4 to 111 persons). The following year, the number of people with visual disabilities who can access the health centre independently increased to 124 persons and those who could understand the medicine usage was 129 persons.

Contributing positively to the people’s quality of life, BREXIT innovation of local government of Malang has received national level acknowledgment, such as the best city innovation on Innovative Government Award 2018 held by Indonesia Ministry of Home Affair and one of the best innovations on the top 45 Public Service Innovation from Indonesia Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform in 2019. Through BREXIT innovation, local government of Malang is localising the SDG 3, and is aiming to specifically attain target 3.8 “Achieve Universal Health Coverage” and Goal 10, specifically target 10.3 “Ensure Equal Opportunities and End Discrimination.”

Community Health Centre Janti in Malang City is the pioneer in applying BREXIT innovation, due to its proximity to rehabilitation centre for persons with visual disability Rehabilitasi Sosial Bina Netra (RSBN). Currently, BREXIT innovation has been replicated to several other community health centres in Malang and has become reference for local governments of other cities in Indonesia, such as Maluku.