Diarrhea common in poor children: Survey

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta

Approximately 11 percent of children aged below five years old suffer from diarrheal diseases annually, a survey says, highlighting that the diseases remain a serious concern among toddlers in the country.

Data from the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (SDKI) shows that in 2002 and 2003, approximately 11 percent of children aged below five, most of whom were from low-income families, suffered from diarrheal diseases. The percentage has not changed since 1997.

Children aged below five account for 10.4 percent, or more than 22 million of the country's total population of 220 million.

The data further shows that Bandung, West Java has the highest incidence of diarrheal diseases among toddlers, (15 percent), followed by Makassar, South Sulawesi, (16 percent).

Team leader of the Coalition for Healthy Indonesia, Tini Hadad, said on Friday that lack of access to clean water caused diarrheal diseases to remain a serious issue among children of low-income families.

"The two cities (Bandung and Makassar) are capital cities in which clean water is supposedly abundant and readily accessible, but, the fact is that it is not," said Tini.

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that every year, approximately 1.3 million children in developing countries die from diarrheal diseases.

Data from the Ministry of Health shows that the fatality rate (CFR) of children suffering from diarrheal diseases surged to 2.4 percent in 2002, from 1.9 percent in 2001.

Tini criticized the government over the limited access to clean water, saying it had not been paying enough attention to health issues.

"The government must provide access to clean water and information on how to live a healthy life," she said.

For her part, she said, she would conduct a study in the two cities to further collect data on children suffering from diarrheal diseases and their lifestyles, in order to better understand the issue.

The research will take five weeks and involve 700 respondents from each city.

Tini explained that when the study was finished, she would tour the two cities to provide the people with information on healthy living and keeping the environment clean to prevent diarrheal diseases.

She added that the research would also be used to design a program on improving hygiene through behavioral changes, communication and health promotion.

"The effort to improve health must come from all levels of society, and that's why I encourage everyone to participate in promoting a clean environment," said Tini.