Yemris Fointuna and Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Kupang, Bandarlampung At least 16 children in West Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, have died this year from complications caused by malnutrition.
Oktavian Diky, a director at Karitas Weetabula Hospital, said the children, who were all under five years of age, had suffered from marasmus, a chronic illness stemming from malnutrition.
Oktavian said that 13 of the victims had died in January and the other three in February.
"This month, however, no deaths have been reported even though up to 40 children are being treated at the hospital," Oktavian said, adding that they were all from very poor families.
The deaths raised the number of victims of marasmus since May last year to 17, he said. He explained that at least 200 patients, most in very poor health, were currently being treated at a number of hospitals and malnutrition rehabilitation centers throughout West Nusa Tenggara.
Octavian expressed concern at the lack of attention the government has paid to malnutrition, as it is feared it will affect the futures of thousands of children under five years old.
East Nusa Tenggara health office Head Stef Bria Seran said that the provincial administration had conducted a number of programs, ranging from the provision of food supplements to the revitalization of integrated health service centers.
Bria Seran said that the central government had earmarked in its 2005 budget a fund of Rp 51.7 billion (US$5.58 million) for malnutrition prevention, of which Rp 44.1 billion was managed by regental regencies throughout the country.
East Nusa Tenggara Legislative Council deputy speaker Kristo Blasin urged the provincial administration to optimize its services for those suffering from malnutrition and undernourishment.
Meanwhile, in Lampung province the number of children under five years old suffering from malnutrition has reached 200, of whom 105 are from East Lampung regency.
Although up to 181 of the cases were detected last year, many of the children are still suffering, while the other 20 were discovered from January to March this year.
Chairman of the Coalition for Healthy Lampung, Herdimansyah said that these figures were compiled based on reports from hospitals and regency health offices throughout Lampung, but the real number of the sufferers could be much higher.
Herdimansyah cited as an example the malnutrition case in Tanggamus regency in 2005, which had been denied by Lampung health office officials In reality, up until March 2005, the Tanggamus health office had recorded at least 829 malnutrition cases, with 6,226 children under five years old suffering from protein deficiency, he said.
The discovery was made after the Tanggamus health office conducted health checks on 59,102 children.
According to Herdimansyah, the malnutrition was caused mainly by the government's neglect of integrated health service centers.
"This is a huge threat because we fear we will have a lost generation," he said, adding that his agency was directly visiting villages in Lampung.
"We predict that thousands of children suffer from malnutrition in Lampung. This is a serious problem, so the central government should act now, not just wait until the patients have been treated in hospital or community health centers," he added.