Diarrhea outbreak strikes Bogor

Diarrhea outbreak strikes Bogor

The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Dozens of children under the age of five are been treated for
diarrheal diseases in several hospitals in Bogor, which suggests
that residents may lack access to clean water and basic
information on good hygiene and health.

Spokesman of the Indonesia Red Cross (PMI) Hospital in Bogor,
Andi Mukti, said the hospital had treated 104 children since
early June, 94 of whom were outpatients.

According to the Bogor health agency, 26 children with
diarrheal diseases are being treated at the Salak army hospital.

Officials of the city health agency expressed concern that the
number of patients with diarrheal diseases would increase during
the dry season, which will start in July-August.

"Not only children, but adults will be affected by the
proliferation of E-coli bacteria that causes diarrhea," said head
of the infectious disease eradication unit at the agency, Eddy
Darma, as quoted by Antara earlier this week.

Besides the change of season, residents lacked information on
good hygiene and health, which increased their likelihood of
becoming ill, adding that "most residents drink groundwater from
artesian wells, rather than pipe water."

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.

Activists under the Coalition for Healthy Indonesia recently
blamed the government for the high prevalence of diarrheal
diseases in toddlers, saying that, even in capital cities,
residents lacked access to clean water.