Thousands of Jakarta tots malnourished
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
At least 8,455 children under five in Jakarta are suffering from malnutrition, the City Health Agency reported on Friday.
The high number of cases, for what is one of the wealthiest regions in the country, represents almost 1 percent of the total number of children under five years old estimated to live in the municipality, which the agency puts at 923,000.
Observers said the malnutrition cases were a slap in the face to the city administration, which has a mammoth budget of Rp 14.01 trillion (US$1.45 billion) this year for the provision of local services, including health.
"Out of the malnourished toddlers, seven are in dire need of intensive treatment ... (and) three of them must be hospitalized for at least 90 days," agency head Abdul Chalik Masulili said at City Hall.
Two of the sickest children were now being treated at the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta, while the other was receiving care at the Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta, Masulili said.
The remaining four infants could be treated at home since no complications were involved, he added.
Agency spokeswoman Zelvyno said the malnourished children were mostly from slum areas.
According to the Jakarta office of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS Jakarta), some 680 community units out of a total of 2,657 are categorized as slum areas.
In its 2002 report, the agency counted 291,324 poor families in the capital.
Zelvyno said the agency would intensify its activities to give nutritious food to children on a monthly basis at 3,941 integrated community health posts (Posyandu) across the city.
Each post usually serves between 100 and 150 babies.
The agency has allocated Rp 10,000 per child per month for nutritious snacks.
The administration has also allocated monthly payments of Rp 25,000 for meals and Rp 35,000 for hospital treatment for malnourished children, who needed intensive care.
Some residents have complained that the implementation of the program was poorly monitored by the administration and said many of the funds did not go to the people who needed it most.
"Some posts have apparently failed to carry out the program, as the implementation of the program depends on how active the neighborhood unit heads were," said Ony, 35, a resident of Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta.
The father of a five-year-old girl said his neighborhood unit head had never informed him about the program.
Another resident, Linda, 30, complained that her health post in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, only provided a cup of mung bean porridge for each infant.
"I heard that in some other places, a baby could enjoy much more, like a glass of milk and a bowl of spinach soup plus fried chicken as a side dish," she said.
Governor Sutiyoso emphasized his administration would improve the distribution of nutritious food to all children in need.
"I am sure that we can handle this, thanks to the massive budget we have," Sutiyoso said.