B

ali still suffers from contagious diseases related to environmental health, despite the fact the island province has better clean water facilities compared to other provinces in the country.

The finding was revealed at a policy dialogue on household water treatment for urban poor water supply, held Monday in Denpasar. The event was jointly organized by the Balifokus Foundation and the Canada International Development Agency (CIDA)-Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Partnership.

I Ketut Subrata, head of the Bali Health Agency's diseases eradication and environmental health division, said Bali suffered from a cholera outbreak in 1995 that caused a massive drop in tourist numbers.

He also said several tourists were infected with Salmonella in 2002, caused them to develop diarrhea.

"All of these outbreaks occurred despite the fact Bali has better clean water coverage than other provinces," he said.

"Basic sanitation facilities are still difficult to implement, however, in areas without easy access to clean water due to geographic conditions, such as Selat and Bebandem districts in Karangasem regency, and Trunyan village in Bangli regency."

Subrata added that in addition to technical problems, there was also a coordination problem that had prevented joint agreement on public works, health and home affairs from being optimally implemented. Another problem was funding, with most health agencies at regency level not allocating enough funding for clean water.

Zainal Nampira, head of the Health Ministry's environmental health division, said that currently water resources and treatment were important issues.

"One of the topics is household water treatment," he said.

"The public often consumes low-quality water, which is the source of diseases."

Health Ministry data shows that in 2007, diarrhea caused 31 percent of deaths among babies aged 2 to 13 months. Another 55 percent of infant and toddler deaths were caused by diseases related to poor sanitation, water and the environment.

"Bali still has a high diarrhea prevalence of 13 percent on average, compared to the national average of 9 percent," Zainal said.

"That's even higher than in Maluku."

A study in 1997 revealed that across Bali, 81 percent of water was boiled before being consumed, while in Denpasar it was only 36 percent. It was assumed most residents consumed bottled water.

Zainal said water treatment was also related to the availability of energy source such as kerosene, LPG and firewood.

"We are concerned that with the recent kerosene shortage, more people will forgo boiling water before consuming it," he said.

Kristin Darundiyah, one of Zainal's subordinates, said the choice of water treatment in households was dependent on water rates, taste, prestige and gender issues.

"For example, most women find replacing water gallons too physically demanding, and so feel that duty is up to the men," she said.

Balifokus Foundation director Yuyun Ismawati said families in Denpasar spent Rp 50,000 (US$4.17) to Rp 120,000 monthly buying water.