Child health 'better managed' under Soeharto

Iskandar Zulkarnaen, Antara News Agency/Samarinda

A letter to the editor appearing in a national newspaper recently asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to lower the price of fuel as the fuel price hike was blamed for the high incidence of malnutrition in many areas across the nation.

It would need serious research to determine whether there is positive correlation between the fuel price hike and malnutrition. But, one thing for sure is that the malnutrition problem is immediate and needs to be addressed urgently.

The problem, which surfaced during the reform era, was shocking as it was never present during the New Order era under president Soeharto, which was considered a repressive and corrupt regime.

Although the regime was corrupt, malnutrition was virtually unheard of as the Soeharto government had administered integrated health service posts (posyandu) in almost all neighborhoods across the nation. The administration of those posts, which involved government officials and health workers, was consistent and well guided. Post workers helped distribute supplementary nutritious food and provided a basic medical check up for infants and children so that malnutrition was able to be controlled and averted. Children were immunized at the posts and were regularly weighed.

"The situation has changed markedly since 1998. We have to admit that the posyandu program has been neglected since the fall of the Soeharto government in 1998 because the program was considered a remnant of the Soeharto era.

This perception is wrong," said East Kalimantan governor Suwarna. He said that not all New Order government programs were bad.

The posyandu program is among the good programs that has to be maintained and developed, he said.

Through this program, the government was able to monitor the health of infants and children so that it could prevent malnutrition. The program was able to reach out to every family across the archipelago as the posts had been established in almost all neighborhoods here.

However, government attention to the program has been declining. According to a data from the East Kalimantan National Family Planning Body, the number of officials who coordinate the health posts has been reducing over time. In 10 regencies/municipalities in East Kalimantan, not including the big cities of Samarinda, Balikpapan and Kutai Kartanegara, the number of these officials has declined to two or three in every regency/municipality from dozens or even hundreds during the New Order era.

Suwarna lamented the situation as the officials were important to attract and mobilize people to bring their children to the posyandu in order to be vaccinated or given supplementary foods. They can also encourage people to use contraception.

Given the importance of the posyandu, Governor Suwarna has ordered all mayor and regents to reactivate the posts.

The reactivation is a pressing need as 8,583 infants in the province were found to be malnourished last year, said assistant to the East Kalimantan provincial secretary Nusyirwan Ismail. The infants were a sizable percentage of a total of 360,398 infants in the province. "However, thank God, none of infants in the province are suffering from severe malnutrition (marasmus)," said Nusyirwan.

If the health posts were reactivated it could prevent malnutrition and the polio outbreak from spreading in the province.

Currently, some nine people who have contracted polio have been found in several regencies and municipalities across the province.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration apparently should learn from the Soeharto administration in tackling malnutrition and polio," said Nusyirwan.