Unicef concerned over high Papua infant mortality, AIDS
Unicef concerned over high Papua infant mortality, AIDS
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has allocated US$1
million (Rp 820 million) to help cope with the high infant
mortality rate and spread of HIV/AIDS in the resource-rich
province of Papua.
The director of the Unicef office in Jayapura, Kiyoshi
Nakamitsu, said here on Friday that the financial assistance,
which would be disbursed in phases, was aimed at expressing
Unicef's deep concern over the serious health problems,
especially affecting women and children, in the thinly populated
province.
He said that according to Unicef data, the infant mortality
rate in the province reached 117 per 1,000 under-five children,
which was the worst in the world.
"This means 117 out of every 1,000 infants die every year
before they reach the age of one year old. This infant mortality
rate is very high, and much higher than the national rate of 50
per 1,000 infants," he said
He added that Unicef was obliged and had a responsibility to
cope with the serious health problems among women and their
children in the province.
Kiyoshi said the high infant mortality rate had a lot to do
with rampant malnutrition among women and their children, and the
lack of health services, especially in remote areas.
"Many infants are doomed to die because besides being
malnourished, most children and women do not have access to
better health services because of poverty and the fact that they
live in remote areas," he said.
He said further said that this had been worsened by the high
percentage of people with HIV/AIDS in the province over the last
decade.
Out of a total of 1,263 people with HIV in the province, 539
have developed AIDS. If compared to the province's population of
2.3 million, this figure is the highest in the country.
"The infant mortality rate is expected to remain high over the
next ten years in line with the high percentage of people with
HIV/AIDS. Prenatal babies are quite prone to contracting HIV/AIDS
from their mothers. Besides, teenagers are also prone to the
disease as a result of promiscuity," he said, adding that Unicef
would launch an anti-AIDS campaign among high school students.
He said the assistance would distributed in five regencies --
Biak, Jayawijaya, Jayapura, Sorong and Manokwari-- and take the
form of medicines, and training and support programs.