Irianese's life expectancy only 40 years

JAKARTA (JP): The life expectancy of the Irianese is about 40 years, the shortest among ethnic groups in Indonesia, due to malnutrition and a poor health service, a senior local official says.

"Reaching the age of 40, let alone 50, is an extraordinary divine reward," Decky Asmuruf, chief of the Irian Jaya provincial office for social affairs, told Antara in Jayapura last week.

According to the United Nation's Development Program's (UNDP) 1999 Human Development Report, life expectancy in Indonesia as a whole is 65.1.

Asmuruf attributed the untimely deaths in Irian Jaya to widespread malnutrition and common chronic diseases like malaria, respiratory problems, tuberculosis, leprosy and skin diseases.

Malnutrition and poor medical care are complicated problems for the cash-strapped Irian Jaya provincial government. Tribespeople living in isolated areas lack adequate health facilities.

The life expectancy is also attributed to the high rates of infant and maternal mortality in indigenous peoples in the hinterland.

Asmuruf warned that unless the central government in Jakarta did something to reverse the situation, Irian Jaya would see its indigenous population shrink every year.

The high mortality rate in Irian Jaya has resulted in an increasingly large number of orphan children.

"Jut imagine, with a population of only 2.3 million, Irian Jaya has 76,779 orphans," he said. "Most of the children live a miserable life because their parents died young."

At present, the local government accommodates only 17,340 orphans in orphanages and with foster parents.

Statistics at the social affairs office show that Irian Jaya has 11,900 people with physical disabilities, 38,092 unemployed women and 2,720 prostitutes.

"The unemployed women are mostly at their productive ages. It is feared that they will turn to prostitution if they cannot get employment," Asmuruf said. (pan)