Tackling polio in Sukabumi a long, slow journey

Tackling polio in Sukabumi a long, slow journey

Last month, under-fives in the country were immunized against polio for the third time in four months.

The outbreak started in Sukabumi, West Java, and has spread across 10 provinces. It has crippled 295 children. There is no cure.

While the virus continues to circulate, the only way to protect children is to keep vaccinating. There are plans for a further national immunization round early next year.

A team of volunteers -- three doctors, two physiotherapists and a technician from hospitals in Jakarta -- recently set up a clinic at a puskesmas (public health clinic) in Cidahu, Sukabumi.

They were there to check up on the 24 children who were the first in Indonesia to contract the virus.

Text by Suzanne Yates

Photos by Josh Estey

Photo A: Polio

Five-year-old Fawzia (foreground) clutches her mother's dress as she and her mother, as well as other mothers and their children, wait for the clinic in Cidahu to open.

Photo B : Polio

Technician from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) Alfien (second from right) examines the legs of two-year-old Dadaleni whose left leg has been corrected, but whose right has a curvature. Alfien notices that the leg braces have hardly been used.

Photo C : Polio

Fawzia shows RSCM technician Alfien how she is making progress with her walking. "Her right leg is curved, but it would be worse without the brace I made her," he says. Fawzia's mother, Ibu Enay, practices with her daughter every day: "She cycles, climbs ladders and walks up slopes," she says.

Photo D : Polio

A mold to manufacture a leg brace is being made of Ramdhan's leg. One-year-old Ramdhan contracted polio when he was five months old.

Photo E : Polio

Dr Marianna from Harapan Kita hospital makes the first checks before the children move onto physiotherapy. She's delighted with the progress of three-and-a-half-year-old Meli, who, three months ago, was unable to walk.