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.