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Malnutrition, measles in Papua spoil Nutrition Day

Indonesia may be rich in resources but it has yet to prove it is able to feed its children well

Nethy Dharma Somba/Marguerite Afra/Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post)
Jayapura/Jakarta
Fri, January 26, 2018

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Malnutrition, measles in Papua spoil Nutrition Day

I

ndonesia may be rich in resources but it has yet to prove it is able to feed its children well.

The world’s largest archipelago, which is listed among five countries with the highest number of stunting cases in the world, is currently under the spotlight for a measles outbreak and malnutrition, health issues that have claimed the lives of at least 90 children in Papua.

The government had failed to fulfill children’s need for nutrients because, in certain regions, people had limited access to food and parents were lacking in knowledge on eating healthy, said Bogor Institute of Agriculture nutritionist Dodik Briawan.

“Even children in urban areas can suffer from malnutrition if their parents don’t know what kinds of food their children need for physical and mental development,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

“Meanwhile, the one [health crisis] in Papua has occurred because people don’t have access to healthy food. There, children become malnourished and are susceptible to infections.”

The Health Ministry’s director for public nutrition, Doddy Izwardy, said Papuans’ nomadic tradition was partly to blame for the crisis as it resulted in parents not vaccinating their children or neglecting routine health checks.

“They move from one place to another and feed their children whatever they pick from plants in the forest. Their children’s poor immunity makes them prone to such diseases,” he said.

This year’s Nutrition Day, which fell on Jan. 25, featured activities that shed light on stunting and malnutrition. However, the ongoing situation in Papua overshadowed the occasion.

Doddy said wasting, which refers to the state of being underweight as a result of a lack of nourishment, in Asmat, Papua, was common. In Indonesia, 800,000 Indonesian children suffer from wasting, while more than nine million children experience stunting, he said. Besides Asmat, a measles outbreak and cases of malnutrition have also hit the neighboring regency of Pegunungan Bintang.

Papua Peace Network coordinator and Catholic priest Neles Tebay referred to the outbreak in the country’s easternmost province as ironic. Papua and West Papua province have been receiving special autonomy funds amounting to almost Rp 60 trillion (US$4.5 billion) from the central government since 2001. Still, local residents lacked access to basic services, a problem the local and central government blamed on the vast area and rough terrain, he said.

Papua Legislative Council member John N. Gobay said all stakeholders needed to push for an improvement in health services in Papua and educate local residents on living a healthy lifestyle.

“We need to work together in Asmat for the residents to live a quality life,” he said.

To address the health emergency in Papua, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo invited Papua Governor Lukas Enembe, Asmat Regent Elisa Kambu and Nduga Deputy Regent Wentius Nimiangge to the Bogor Palace in West Java on Tuesday to come up with a plan to tackle the health problems in the Papua hinterland.

Elisa and other officials in Papua proposed that infrastructure be improved and housing complexes be developed near villages. Jokowi, who largely supported the plan, also discussed the possibility of introducing a modern farming system to ensure food security.

Jokowi acknowledged that vaccinating in the sparsely populated province was not easy considering that health workers had difficulty accessing jungles and many locals refused immunization.

The Indonesian Military and the National Police have been involved in the health mission in Papua. They will help transport medicine and send doctors to Papua over the next year. (vla)

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