Saving the next generation

Saving the next generation

If, under present circumstances, the census findings that were
made public by chairman of the Society of Pediatricians, Jose
R.L. Batubara, last week still fail to jolt Indonesians to come
to their senses and start doing something concrete to take their
country out of the never-ending crisis, then something must be
fundamentally wrong with their conscience.

According to Batubara, at least 6.8 million babies out of a
total of 85 million Indonesian babies and children are currently
malnourished. Of those 6.8 million malnourished babies 1.8
million are categorized as "poorly nourished" while the other 5
million are "lacking in good nutrition intake".

One indication that a baby is malnourished is that it weighs
only 60 to 80 percent of what is considered normal body weight.
Data compiled by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare showed
that last year some 8 million Indonesians suffered from
malnutrition, one million of whom were chronically malnourished.

Other data shows that the average milk consumption of the
Indonesian population of more than 200 million is only five
liters per capita per year -- far lower than the amount consumed
by people in most other countries in this region.

In the Philippines, for example, which has a population of
about 70 million, milk consumption averages 19 liters per capita
per year. In Thailand, with a population of 59 million, each
person consumes an average of 22 liters of milk a year. For
Malaysia, with a population of 20 million, the figure is 26
million liters a year.

Many factors contribute to this sad state of affairs. A record
of long-standing general poverty is one of the reasons. In the
case of babies and infants, parental ignorance is another
contributing factor.

But the drawn-out economic crisis and the continuous outbreaks
of violence in a number of regions that have forced tens of
thousands of families to live in refugee camps in appalling
conditions deserves our special attention. These are factors
which this nation could have prevented from arising or could have
swiftly resolved but have failed to do.

Batubara said he believed the number of malnourished and
undernourished babies and children was certain to grow in the
future, "if our social, economic and political situation remains
in crisis". Unfortunately, with the endless bickering among the
various political factions, there is little hope that the
condition will improve in the immediate future.

For the average Indonesian this is bad enough. But one can
imagine what a never-ending crisis would do to children. Experts
inform us that children under the age of five are especially
vulnerable to a prolonged condition of undernourishment. Their
physical development will be impeded. But of even greater concern
is how it will affect their intellect when they grow up.

If it is true that the future of a nation rests in the hands
of its children, then it is in the interest of every Indonesian
to make every effort to improve the lot of our children. Who
knows what much-needed talents we may be throwing away by
allowing the situation to continue, not to mention the injustice
that we would do to the less privileged among us.

The best thing that this nation can hope for under present
circumstances is that its leaders will come to see the paramount
importance of placing the nation's interests above all else.
Unless they can do so there is little hope that things will
improve anytime soon -- for Indonesians in general and for their
children in particular.