Some 13 children under 5 years old died in Asmat regency, Papua, in December 2017, alleged to be malnutrition and illnesses.
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Brunoto untuk Kompas
An infant sits next to his mother on a raised walkway in front of their house in Adat village, Pulau Tiga district, Asmat regency, Papua. Dozens of infants in Asmat regency died in December 2017 from malnutrition and infectious diseases because they had not received basic immunization.
JAYAPURA, KOMPAS – Some 13 children under 5 years old died in Asmat regency, Papua, in December 2017. Their cause of death was alleged to be malnutrition and illnesses.
The finding was made by the Diocese of Agats during Christmas service activities on December 23-25 in As and Atat hamlets in Pulau Tiga district, Asmat. A three-hour boat ride is needed to reach As and Atat from Asmat capital Agats.
In an interview in Jayapura on Tuesday (9/1/2017), Agats Bishop Aloysius Murwito OFM said the bodies of the diseased children were so thin and covered in rashes, as if they were suffering from sarampa or Exanthema Subitum (Roseola Infantum). “The diseased children in Atat were between 1 and 3 years old. We visited the house of one of the mourning families,” Aloysius said.
He said Atat’s breast-feeding mothers were also very thin and the quality of their breast milk might not have been good. Many locals there earn their livelihood from growing sago and vegetables and processing forest resources. The yield, however, is far from ideal. The nearest community health center (Puskesmas) is located in Pulau Tiga district, some 1.5-hour away from Atat.
Regent Elisa Kambu had formed an integrated work unit to resolve several highlighted cases in a number of villages in Asmat.
Aloysius said he hoped the “1,000 Days of Life” program initiated by the Asmat regency administration last year could reach the six hamlets in Pulau Tiga. The program includes provision of nutritional food for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
“We will also form a team that involves community and religious leaders to resolve health problems in the villages. The team will prepare assistance, in the form of meals and healthcare professionals, for locals,” Aloysius said.
Asmat regency spokesman Reza Baadila said that regent Elisa Kambu had formed an integrated work unit to resolve several highlighted cases in a number of villages in Asmat on Sunday (7/1). The team will take immediate steps to tackle malnutrition, optimize local health programs and ensure the presence of medics in all public health centers and supporting public health centers.
“The regent will directly lead a meeting with all relevant officials to resolve these problems. Since Monday, the integrated team has been collecting data on the number of infants and toddlers with nutritional disorders and illnesses,” Reza said.
He continued that, apart from the problem of malnutrition, five districts in Asmat had also been hit by measles. The five districts include one hamlet in Suru-Suru district, three in Fayit district, one in Pantai Kasuari district along with Derkoumor and Atsy districts.
Asmat, with its 23 districts, only has 16 public health centers, all of which are located on district centers.
“The regent has ordered a team from the Asmat health agency to monitor efforts to tackle measles in these areas. We are still collecting data on the number of children suffering from the disease,” Reza said.
Lack of doctors
Reza said that one of the major obstacles in healthcare service provision in Asmat regency is the lack of general practitioners and medical specialists and inadequate facilities at public health centers. Asmat, with its 23 districts, only has 16 public health centers, all of which are located on district centers.
In these 16 public health centers, there are only six doctors on duty. The rest are nurses and orderlies. There are 224 hamlets in Asmat.
“Thus far, the 1,000 Days of Life program for pregnant and nursing mothers is only carried out in these 16 public health centers due to the lack of medical professionals. We have asked the Health Ministry to provide more doctors in Asmat. However, nobody wants to be assigned here,” Reza said.
Asmat was one of 17 regions in Papua recommended for massive vaccination.
He said that the Asmat regency administration had allocated Rp 200 billion (US$14 million) in the regional budget for health care. However, this amount is not enough to cover healthcare outreach to the 224 hamlets, due to high operational costs and difficult access with boats to the hamlets.
“This year, the healthcare budget is increased from Rp 200 billion to Rp 290 billion. The aim is to improve the quality of healthcare services for Asmat people,” Reza said.
Papua health agency health problem prevention division head Aaron Rumainum said Asmat was one of 17 regions in Papua recommended for massive vaccination. This is because vaccination coverage in Asmat remains below 80 percent.
