H

ealth Minister Nafsiah Mboy said on Thursday that she would send a medical team to Samenage in Helenga district, Yahukimo Regency, Papua, to check reported multiple fatalities in the remote hamlet.

Previously, 61 villagers in Samenage had reportedly died between January and March this year due to a variety of illnesses, some of which are related to malnutrition.

According to human rights activist and Catholic priest John Jonga of the Hepuba parish, the data was gathered by a pastoral team that paid a visit to the area during the recent Easter celebrations.

“We have to check the report and will send a team there to confirm the information,” said Nafsiah after attending a meeting with Papua Governor Lukas Enembe and regents and mayors across Papua province in Sentani, Jayapura.

She cast doubt on the reliability of the data since there had been no report of epidemics or force majeure in the area over the last two months.

“There are times when people exaggerate things. There were no such multiple fatalities. It could only happen if there were a tribal war or certain epidemic. There is no epidemic reported either,” said Nafsiah.

Earlier this month, an NGO also reported that as many as 95 people in three villages in Tambrauw, West Papua, died of illnesses possibly due to malnutrition between November 2012 and March 2013.

Nafsiah also denied the report. “There was no such thing. We have dispatched teams to the area and there were only four fatalities recorded from October 2012 to March 2013,” she went on.

She, however, admitted that the remote location had hindered the government’s efforts to provide health services.

Yahukimo, which has a population of more than 164,000, is located some 800 kilometers from Jayapura, the Papuan capital. The hamlet can only be reached by light aircraft.

John Jonga previously reported that people of Samenage suffered from diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, guinea worm disease and respiratory problems as well as malnutrition.

The hamlet only has an auxiliary health center with one medical worker, known as mantri. The mantri, however, has apparently been absent for two months due to illness.

“If a villager gets very sick and his or her family has enough money, the patient will be taken to [nearby town] Wamena. But many are left to die [since they cannot afford to pay for the costly transportation],” said Jonga.