Fund for food supplements criticized as too small

Fund for food supplements criticized as too small

JAKARTA (JP): Community health center officials expressed
concern on Friday over the paltry sum -- amounting to only Rp 750
per day for each child -- set aside by the city administration
for provision of food supplements for undernourished children.

Several officials contacted separately by The Jakarta Post
said that, due to the limited funds, they were frequently forced
to buy less food and sometimes use their own money to run the
food supplement program.

Salmawati of Menteng Health Center in Central Jakarta said the
clinic received only Rp 237,800 for three undernourished children
for 90 days.

"It is extremely complicated as on the one hand the amount is
too little to buy food at increasingly high prices, while on the
other hand we find it extremely difficult to choose the most
appropriate recipients among the 63 undernourished children. We
are afraid it will create jealousy," she said.

Salmawati said that the amount was not enough to buy food for
90 days as was instructed by program organizers. "I use all the
money to buy milk or biscuits to feed them. I know that the food
will be finished in less than 90 days. But what can I do?"

She also said she was forced to divide packets of biscuits and
containers of milk, which were originally allocated for one
child, between two children.

A similar complaint was also made by Sri Ratna Sriwulan, head
of Kemayoran Health Center in Central Jakarta, who said that
sometimes workers were forced to spend their own money to help
feed the 20 malnourished children under their care.

At least 3,000 cases of malnutrition in children under five
years have been detected in the city. At least 58 children are
currently hospitalized because of complications caused by a
shortage of food.

One baby was treated for chronic undernourishment, or marasmus
kwashiorkor, in the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in
Central Jakarta.

In the 1998/1999 city budget, the administration allocated
between Rp 40 million and Rp 50 million for the program, saying
that each child would receive Rp 750 per day for about 90 days.

The administration did not specify how many would receive the
allowance, or how they would be chosen, but the planned
expenditure would be enough for between 600 and 700 children for
the three month period.

The city is to allocate another Rp 100 million from its
1999/2000 budget to the food supplement project for malnourished
children.

During the plenary session on the 1999/2000 draft budget at
the City Council on Friday, Commission E for social welfare
affairs urged the administration to double the amount of the food
supplement fund.

Head of the commission Soeparmo said the administration should
consider that if the amount of Rp 750 per day was not raised he
was afraid it would not help the children at all.

"Who can buy children food with such a small amount of money,"
he told the Post.

Separately, Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Djailani said
he had instructed the five city-owned hospitals to give free
treatment to malnourished children.

"I have instructed them to give full attention toward the case
as it can be categorized as an emergency," he said.

However, Soeparmo said that despite giving free treatment the
hospitals should also publicize it "so that parents of other
undernourished children don't need to think about the expenses if
the children need to be hospitalized".

Marthin Bimbuain, director of city-owned Tarakan Hospital in
West Jakarta, told the Post the hospital had given free treatment
to undernourished patients, but disagreed with the suggestion to
publicize it.

"We are afraid it will attract people to abuse the offer," he
said, adding that those who could actually afford the medical
fees would try to be declared incapable of paying.

He said that over the last three months the hospital had
treated three undernourished children free of charge. (ind)