Two more babies die of malnutrition in Central Java

Two more babies die of malnutrition in Central Java

KARANGANYAR, Central Java (JP): At least two babies have died
of malnutrition, 55 more are severely undernourished while more
than 5,900 under-five-year-old children have been suffering from
various symptoms of hunger-related diseases over the past two
months, an official says.

Farida, the deputy chief of the Karanganyar health office,
identified the two fatalities in the regency as 10-month-old Fika
Javira and 21-month-old Purwanti. In addition to severely
undernourished, the two babies had suffered from heart problems
and bronchitis, Farida said.

The regency administration has, through its social safety net
program, distributed nutritious supplementary food for the
children worth Rp 2,500 per day for 90 days, Farida said.

Many areas in the country were hit by marasmus, a condition of
chronic undernourishment which affects mainly children.

State Minister of Food and Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin said
recently a total of 165 malnourished babies have died this month
due to hunger-related diseases.

The minister revealed that reported cases of malnutrition
affecting children across the country had jumped from 786 in
April to an estimated 10,000 this month.

Meanwhile, an official in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi has
protested the minister's statements on the tally of infants
suffering from severe malnutrition in the province.

"We protest the number revealed by minister A.M. Saefuddin
that there are 152 cases here. We only have 19 children with
malnutrition," Thamrin Datjing at the province's ministry for
health told Antara.

Meanwhile there were "2,951 mild and moderate cases of protein
deficiency," Thamrin said.

The office had carried out thorough cross-checks on the
minister's data, Thamrin said.

The cases were mostly in Kendari mayoralty and the regencies
of Buton, Kendari, Muna and Kolaka, he said.

"The Kolaka Regent has also protested the minister's statement
because his regency is a prosperous area with the highest welfare
levels in the province," Thamrin added.

Further Thamrin said the rate of marasmus in his province was
considered relatively low as it was still under 10 percent of the
total number of 300,000 infants under five.

Thamrin said the cause of marasmus in the province was mainly
the inability of people to provide nutritious food for their
families.

"One case is already extraordinary for us, so we'll keep on
tracing if there are possibly other children suffering from
malnutrition," he said, adding they would be intensively treated.

Treating the mild and moderate 2,951 cases of protein
deficiency only needed the promotion of more variety in people's
diet, he said.

Separately in Klaten, Central Java, 8.7 tons of rice aid was
handed over to poor families whose children suffered from
malnutrition, Antara reported Saturday.

Klaten Regent Kasdi said the aid was given for a three month
period, in which each child would receive 30 kilograms per month.

Latest data revealed there were 144,633 families living under
the poverty line.

The news agency did not say how many people received Friday's
donations. (edt/emf/har)