Malnourished toddlers in need of cash assistance

Yemris Fointuna ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Kupang   |  Wed, 06/18/2008 10:44 AM  |  Headlines

Two-year-old Geraldo is fading away. His condition, brought on by acute malnutrition, is gradually deteriorating.

Despite undergoing medical treatment in an isolated ward at the WZ Yohannes General Hospital in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, for the past three weeks, he is showing little sign of improvement.

"He weighs only 6 kilograms, but he does look a bit better now than before," hospital director Yovita Mitak said.

Doctors have diagnosed Geraldo with acute malnutrition with clinical disorders, or marasmus.

Geraldo is getting special treatment at the isolation ward. He is given formula milk, as well as breast milk from his mother.

His parents, Feri Dewa, 31, and Agus Blegur, from Fontein subdistrict in Oebobo district, Kupang city, refused The Jakarta Post permission to take their son's picture.

"The family declined to be interviewed and refused to allow reporters to take photos of their son," a nurse said.

Not far from Geraldo is 18-month-old Alfarido Ngebu. He clings tightly to his mother. His condition is slightly better, but he still weighs merely 7 kilograms.

"Ideally, he should weigh 11 kilograms," said a medical attendant who asked not to be named.

Alfarido's mother Nelcy said her eldest son fell sick Monday last week.

"He had diarrhea. He was diagnosed as suffering from malnutrition when we brought him to the hospital. He weighed only 6 kilograms then and has since gained 1 kilogram," she said.

Nelcy said she found it hard to give her son the nutrients he needed because of a lack of money.

"I have to work in a store because my husband is unemployed. I earn less than Rp 400,000 (US$44) a month, which is why we can't afford to buy milk or nutritious food for our child," Nelcy said.

She said her family had not received either the Rp 300,000 direct cash aid for three months distributed recently, or the 20 kilograms of cheap rice allocated to the poor.

"I take Alfarido to the community health clinic every month, but it has stopped providing milk and food supplements. Last year, the clinic attendants distributed milk and mung bean porridge to toddlers, but the rations stopped in January.

"Hopefully, the government will distribute supplements again for toddlers from poor families like us," she said.

The number of toddlers in East Nusa Tenggara who have died this year from complications related to malnutrition has risen to 23. Most of the victims come from poor families.

East Nusa Tenggara health office head Stefanus Bria Seran acknowledged he was resigned to the situation.

"We have been making efforts to reduce the number of deaths despite limited funds," he said.

He said the key factor in malnutrition was poverty.

"The central government apparently doesn't care about the proposal this province sent. This has exacerbated the situation," Stefanus said.

The province claims it needs at least Rp 57 billion to address the problem, but available funds amount to Rp 1.5 billion from the provincial budget and Rp 5.6 billion from regencies and cities.

"We are relying on the central government to provide the rest, but so far there has been no response," he said.

The death toll reached 23 this week. Most of the victims came from Central Sumba (with nine deaths), Kupang city (seven), Rote Ndao (four), South Timor Tengah (two) and Kupang regency (one).

Health office data show 66 toddlers died of malnutrition in 2005 and 77 died in 2006.

In 2007, Rp 51 billion in funding from the central government helped reduce the numbers of deaths to 10.

Of the 512,407 children suffering from malnutrition, 114 suffer from acute malnutrition with clinical disorders, 12,704 from malnutrition without disorders and 72,067 from undernourishment.

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