The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, has allocated one million US dollars to the Indonesian province of Papua to help fight high infant death rates and the spread of HIV/Aids.
The Director of the Jayapura Unicef office, Kiyoshi Nakamitsu, said there was deep concern over the serious health problems affecting the people of Papua, especially women and children.
He said Unicef figures indicated that the infant mortality rate for the province had reached 117 per thousand in children aged under five.... a rate that was one of the worst in the world.
Mr Kiyoshi said malnutrition was a significant factor in the high death rate among babies.
He said the overall situation had been worsened by the high percentage of people with HIV/Aids.
