Ministry of Health plans deworming campaign

Ministry of Health plans deworming campaign

JAKARTA (JP): The government will launch a massive deworming campaign this year, targeting elementary school children, Minister of Health Sujudi said yesterday.

Sujudi told a hearing with the House of Representatives that the first phase of the campaign will target around 18,000 elementary schools outside Java and Bali.

The campaign includes a program to improve the nutrition of children by giving them nutritional supplements and also administering medication for worm-related diseases.

Nutrition is one of the most important factors affecting the quality of human resources, he told a hearing with Commission VIII of the House.

He stressed the importance of good nutrition for a child's growth.

"Unfortunately, for various reasons, such as low incomes, unhygienic conditions in some neighborhoods, and the habit of skipping breakfast, many children suffer from malnutrition," he said.

A government survey of 20,000 elementary schools in the country conducted in 1994/1995 found that the physical growth of about 50 percent of the students surveyed had been stunted, largely because of worms.

Sujudi said the government has allocated Rp 62.8 billion ($27.3 million) for the purchase of additional food, Rp 1.03 billion for medication against worm-related diseases, and Rp 3.58 billion for the dissemination campaign.

"The program will be run three times a week for nine consecutive months," he said.

Sujudi said that the program depends on the support of the public. School administrators, working with the local Family Welfare Movement, will supervise the program.

Meanwhile, Adi Sasongko of the Kusuma Buana Foundation expressed strong concern that the government's deworming campaign may be missing the mark by concentrating solely on medical treatment.

Adi said the campaign should stress changing the people's living habits, by making them more aware of hygiene.

The ministry fails to understand the epidemic nature of worms, he said. "If we look at the worms' life cycle, the key factor is not medical treatment, but educating the community about hygiene."

He also questioned the plan to give children treatment without first checking their general health.

The huge expense of the campaign, he said, will benefit pharmaceutical companies, whose products will be used, more than the public.

The foundation said the incidence of worm infection among school children ranges between 30 percent and 43 percent.

But the Indonesian Parasite Control Association said in 1992 that intestinal worm infections had a very high reading, with a incidence of round worm at 70-90 percent, whip worm at 80-95 percent, and hookworm at 30-59 percent. (31)