27% of Tanjung Priok students have intestinal worms

27% of Tanjung Priok students have intestinal worms

Poor sanitation and poverty have resulted in 27 percent of
elementary school students in densely populated Tanjung Priok,
North Jakarta, having intestinal worms, according to research.

"At worst, most people lack sense about hygiene," Adi
Sasongko, chief of Kusuma Buana Foundation, which revealed the
results of the research on Thursday. The research was conducted
from 1987 to July 2002.

The Foundation launched a campaign to improve public awareness
about hygiene at an elementary school in Rawa Badak subdistrict,
Tanjung Priok.

It found that 27 percent or 2,323 students of the 12,148
students in 85 elementary schools in Tanjung Priok had worms.

The figure was much higher than for those in other districts,
which ranged from 6 percent to 8 percent.

The foundation examined a total of 141,397 elementary school
students from 527 schools in 11 districts in Jakarta. The result
showed that in general the prevalence of intestinal worms had
decreased from 79 percent to less than 10 percent over 15 years.

Elementary students are prone to worms compared to older
children as they are very active and unaware about hygiene and
lacked adequate knowledge about intestinal worms. --JP