Anita Rachman & Ismira Lutfia – Health officials are battling disease that is now spreading among refugees from last week's massive earthquake in West Java, with many complaining of diarrhea and rashes, while victims staying in higher-elevated regions also face intense cold at night.
The official number of displaced people more than tripled to 88,000 over the weekend as updated information came in from remote areas. At least 30 people remained missing as of Sunday night and were feared dead.
Rustam Pakaya, head of the Ministry of Health's Crisis Center in Jakarta, said on Sunday that a special team was en route with 25 tons of medicines to five West five districts that have been declared disaster areas.
"All kinds of medicines, as well as medical teams for each district," he said. "Yes, some people in the shelters started to get a rash or diarrhea. The conditions in the shelters, we should admit, are far from good. But we have no other choice."
The Indonesian Red Cross announced during the weekend that it was distributing relief including 1,000 hygiene kits for survivors in the districts of Bogor, Bandung, Ciamis, Garut, Cianjur, Sukabumi, Tasikmalaya, and Bandung Barat.
Last Wednesday's 7.3-magnitude earthquake, centered 200 kilometers south in the Indian Ocean, killed at least 73 people. The temblor damaged at least 86,000 buildings in 10 districts of West Java and one district of Central Java.
Search and rescue teams continue digging for victims among the rubble.
Rustam said that an outbreak of diarrhea had been spreading in Bogor and Tasikmalaya before the earthquake even struck, meaning that "it's not only because [survivors] are staying in the shelters."
He said that aid workers had distributed 1,000 blankets to survivors in more mountainous regions such as in Pengalengan in Bandung district, Cigalontang, and Garut who were suffering from cold, but ran out and needs more.
Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said the shelters also need more food supplies, and urged local governments to come up with additional funds.
Laksmita Noviera, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jakarta, said that a joint team comprised of OCHA, nongovernmental organizations and local governments had been dispatched to assess the situation on the ground in the wake of the disaster.