Twenty-four children have died of measles in conjunction with malnutrition in the regency of Asmat in Papua over the past four months.
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Kompas/Wisnu Widiantoro
A child is being treated for measles at the Agats Hospital in Papua on Friday (12/1).
AGATS, KOMPAS – Twenty-four children have died of measles in conjunction with malnutrition in the regency of Asmat in Papua over the past four months. The number of fatalities could increase as the regency administration is still collecting the data.
According to Kompas monitoring, 12 children under the age of five were being treated at a hospital in Agats, the capital of Asmat regency, on Friday (12/1). They looked very thin and in unstable condition. One of them was Theresia Bewer, 4, a girl from Kampung Beritem in Agats. Theresia\'s weight was only 10 kilograms. She suffered from measles and pneumonia.
The hospital was treating the children with special nutritional biscuits and milk, among other measures. Patients were also receiving intravenous fluids and oxygen.
The number of beds and their condition was adequate. There were three wards and two special rooms to treat patients, with two to three patients in each ward. The special rooms, namely the VIP room and the high care unit (HCU), were occupied by four children in unstable condition.
Martha Ponam, 30, a resident of Pulau Tiga regency, said she had lost three children to measles last December. Currently, Martha had two children, Joseph, 3, and Balter, 2, at the hospital in Agats for measles.
The mother of seven said it was difficult to take her children to the community health center (Puskesmas) in Nakai for immunization because of the distance. It takes two hours to reach the Puskesmas by speedboat.
Data on the death of 24 children caused by the measles outbreak and malnutrition are based on reports from religious leaders in Asmat and Agats Hospital personnel.
Father Hery Nahak from the Agats diocese, who has served in a number of villages in Pulau Tiga regency, revealed that eight of the 23 deceased children from the regency came from Kampung Kapi and another 15 came from Kampung As and Kampung Atat. "The victims are between one and three years old," he said. One child died at Agats Hospital.
A doctor at Agats Hospital, Carol Jaqueline, said one child that died at the hospital on Sunday (7/1) had been malnourished. "He died because of being late for medical treatment," she said.
The head of the public health division of the health office in Asmat regency, Steven Langi, said the 12 children who were treated at Agats Hospital suffered from measles and malnutrition and other diseases, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and malaria. "Three children affected by measles and malnutrition have gone home from the hospital," he said.
Five remote regencys are affected by measles and malnutrition, namely Swator, Fayit, Pulau Tiga, Jetsy, and Siret. Four teams have been sent by the Asmat regency administration to the five regencys since Tuesday (9/1). In addition to providing medical and food aid, the team also collect data on the number of victims.
The head of the disease prevention division at the Papua Health Office, Aaron Rumainum, said the measles outbreak had occurred in Asmat in October 2017. Based on data from the health office of Asmat regency, 171 children were hospitalized from October 2017 to January 2018, and 393 children had been treated at Agats Hospital for measles.
Capacity building
The capacity of the Asmat regency administration to deal with malnutrition and measles needs to be strengthened, especially with regard to budget management, human resources and health aid delivery, especially for pregnant women, babies and children.
As reported by Kompas.id, Health Minister Nila Djuwita Anfasa Moeloek said in Jakarta Friday that, "Papua has a special autonomy status, so the head of the local administration is expected to move first."
The same message was conveyed by the deputy II chief of staff of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Yanuar Nugroho, who said that with regard to the problem of malnutrition and measles in Papua, the Health Ministry was in charge of providing direction and guidance on the necessary process, but the prima responsibility, in line with the regional autonomy policy, rested with the local government.
"Services are decentralized to the local government. For health, there is a budget allocation in the local government budget [APBD], which includes the allocation of health workers to be carried out by the local government," he said. Therefore, Yanuar said, the local government capacity needed to be strengthened, especially in terms of basic services like health and education.
Contacted separately, Usman Sumantri, the supervisor of health services for Papua and head of human resources development at the Health Ministry, said he was waiting for the report from the team in Papua.
If required, the office would provide assistance, both technical help and help in meeting nutritional needs.
The director of health surveillance and quarantine at the Health Ministry, Elizabeth Jane Soepardi, admitted that only a small area of Papua was covered by measles immunization for children. Health Ministry data show that immunization coverage in Papua only stood at 46.1 percent as of November 2017. That figure is based on reports that are only 61 percent complete.
According to data from the population and civil registration department of Asmat regency, there are 8,395 children under five years of age in Asmat.
