Over half of community clinics nationwide not working: Minister

Blontank Poer and I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Karanganyar/Bali

A top government official disclosed on Saturday that malnutrition was widespread in the country as 60 percent of the some 200,000 integrated health service posts (Posyandu) nationwide are currently not functioning.

"The fact that these Posyandu are not working has weakened the monitoring of public nutrition levels, which in turn has led to widespread malnutrition in the country," said Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari during a visit to Karanganyar regency, Central Java.

Fadilah was in Karanganyar on Saturday to attend an event marking the formal inauguration of Community Self-Help Month and National Health Week by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

In response to the malnutrition crisis, the government will reactivate the Posyandu nationwide and has earmarked Rp 150 billion (US$15.9 million) for this purpose, said Fadilah.

The money would be used not only to reactivate the Posyandu, but also to provide medication and nutrition supplements to children at risk from malnutrition, said Fadilah.

"The start of National Health Week is a good point of departure for ensuring that the Posyandu programs will bear fruit in the near future," said Fadilah, as quoted by Antara.

The Posyandu program was established under President Soeharto. It was regarded at the time as being highly successful as it managed to reduce the number of children with malnutrition and the rate of infection by various diseases, such as polio.

Besides providing nutrition supplements to infants and children, the program also provided counseling for expectant mothers, infant vaccination and other basic medical services.

Under the program, local women's activists and health workers encouraged mothers to bring their infants to the Posyandu.

Basic medical examinations for mothers and children were provided on a regular basis. The Posyandu were found not only in rural areas, but also in major cities around the country, including Jakarta.

The economic crisis in 1997 and government neglect have been blamed for the problems currently facing the Posyandu. But the nation has paid a high price for this in the form of widespread malnutrition.

The country was shocked recently by news reports that dozens of children were suffering from malnutrition in West Nusa Tenggara province, one of the country's rice bowls.

These reports were quickly followed by reports on widespread malnutrition in other parts of the country.

In his speech in Karanganyar, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that his government would reactivate various New Order programs that benefited the public, including poverty eradication, health service and community self-help programs. During the function, the President symbolically handed over a medical insurance card to a Karanganyar resident. The government proposes to provide free health insurance to 36.1 million poor people across the nation.

Later on Saturday afternoon, President Susilo flew to Denpasar to kick off the 27th Bali Arts Festival. In his speech, he urged the Balinese people to maintain religious tolerance and harmony.

Recalling that the Bali bombings of October 2002 provided a hard, tragic lesson, Susilo stressed that terrorist attacks could take place anywhere and anytime. If such an attack were to take place again in Bali, the island would be catapulted back into recession, he warned while urging vigilance.

"Terrorism has no connection whatsoever with the teachings or the followers of a particular religion. Terrorism is terrorism, a crime against humanity that must be eliminated. That's the view of my government," he stressed.