South Sulawesi babies suffer malnutrition
PANGKEP, South Sulawesi (JP): Hundreds of children under the age of five in four subdistricts here are undernourished, with 23 of them suffering from acute malnutrition. At least two of the children have died of hunger-related diseases while four others are in critical condition.
More than 300 of a total of 2,600 infants and children here are suffering from various illnesses caused by poor nutrition. The areas affected are the Bungoro, Tapakbiring, Pangkajene and Labbakang subdistricts.
Seventeen-month-old Akbar and three-and-half-year-old Aco recently died in Salemo Island, 60 kilometers off the provincial capital of Ujungpandang. Four babies in Barang Lompo, Tupabiring subdistrict are in critical condition.
Amirullah Rasyid, the father of a child suffering from kwashiorkor marasmus -- severe malnutrition caused by a diet high in carbohydrates and low in protein -- in Barang Lompo, told The Jakarta Post that he and his wife learned about their son's illness after taking him to a nearby public health center.
"We did not realize that our son was suffering from a serious disease," he said, adding their son would only eat if he was forced.
The chief of the local office of the health ministry, Muhammad Noor, blamed the prevalent malnutrition among infants and children on the prolonged economic crisis in the regency.
Reports of malnutrition throughout the country have steadily increased since the onset of the economic crisis in mid-1997. It was reported from Semarang, Central Java, two weeks ago that at least 36 children under five years of age in the province had died of malnutrition since September last year.
A further 1,900 others were being treated at local hospitals for malnutrition. In addition, case of malnutrition were found in all 35 regencies and mayoralties of the province.
In Grobogan village, some 45 kilometers east of Semarang, seven infants have died of kwashiorkor marasmus since January.
Immediate medical assistance would have improved the children's chances of survival, but in many cases parents failed to bring their children to the hospital because of financial difficulties. (27/rms)