Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Despite South Sulawesi being one of the country's rice production centers with bumper harvests each year, a significant portion of the population, both in rural and urban areas, still live below the poverty line.
The latest data released by Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo in early November showed the number of people living in poverty had reached 2.4 million, or around 30 percent of the province's total population, despite producing an annual rice surplus of around 1.5 million tons.
The figure is much higher than that released by the South Sulawesi Statistics Bureau, which suggested that as of March this year just over one million people were living in poverty.
The high poverty rate certainly has an impact on the health conditions of the population, especially children below the age of five.
A 2007 survey conducted by the South Sulawesi Health Office on nutrition levels showed the province is home to around 72,000 malnourished children, meaning nearly one in 10 suffer from the condition.
The number of undernourished children accounted for 34 percent of the total 800,000 children in the province, a figure that is far above the national average of only 5 percent for malnutrition and 20 percent for undernourishment.
By October this year, the provincial health office recorded 10 cases of death related to malnutrition.
The office also found almost 100 cases of acute malnutrition, or marasmus kwashiorkor, which causes serious health problems and requires intensive care.
In terms of malnutrition, South Sulawesi is ranked 18th highest in the world. The administration has now classified the province as an emergency area for the condition.
This situation is causing grave concern for administrators, who are seeing the local proverb "a dead mouse in a rice barn" materialize before them. Despite their massive surplus of rice, there is no guarantee the people will not go hungry.
Head of the office's nutrition division Astati Made Amin said in Makassar recently that treating malnutrition had become even more challenging because of a shortage of vital medical supplements used for accelerating a patient's path to recovery.
Each year the provincial health office only receives 30,000 kilograms of medical supplements from the Health Ministry, enough to meet around 30 percent of patients. Medical officers have been forced to prioritize patients based on the seriousness of their condition, with undernourished children first in line to prevent their illness from worsening.
In an attempt to curb the growing problem, regency and municipality administrations have promised to set aside funds for the necessary supplements from their respective budgets.
The provincial administration has only allocated Rp 113 million from its annual budget for the treatment of 110 children suffering from acute malnutrition.
"We are concerned that the limited supplies of food supplements could further worsen their conditions, especially considering 187 nutrition counselors, spread across the villages, ended their contracts and work last April," said Astati.
Besides poverty, malnutrition is also attributed to parents' lack of knowledge about the importance of sufficient nutritional intake for children, regular visits to the integrated health posts and knowing the symptoms and immediate treatments of the condition.
"If it is malnutrition or protein deficiency, recovery can be as simple as administering food supplements, but many suffering the condition are afflicted with other diseases, such as pneumonia and diarrhea. This is serious as medication must be administered simultaneously for both conditions," she said.
South Sulawesi Health Office head Muhammad Saad Bustan said treatment should be carried out in an integrated manner by including relevant agencies, because malnutrition not only concerned health issues but involved social, economic and educational factors.
In South Sulawesi children are generally prevented from consuming large quantities of fish because locals believe they cause intestinal worms. Through education, that myth is now being dispersed as people learn the benefits of consuming fish, a high source of protein.
"We must conduct campaigns and provide information to the people about the importance of consuming nutritious food, maintaining hygiene and the most important thing, increasing families' income," said Saad.
The South Sulawesi provincial administration – led since April by Syahrul Yasin Limpo and Agus Arifin Nu'mang – has resolved to address poverty by initiating free healthcare services at every community health center and free third class in-patient treatment at all state-run hospitals.
It will also exempt students from school fees from elementary to junior high school levels and boost production in the agricultural and fishery sectors.
Syahrul believed the programs would be able to resolve poverty issues faced by the people because they were entitled to their basic rights.
"Healthcare and education are the basic rights of people that must be fulfilled. If the people are healthy and smart, they will be creative in their work, thus overcoming poverty issues," said Syahrul.