title: Life in a landfill slum, children's health, and the Millennium Development Goals.
abstract: People living in slums can be considered left behind with regard to national successes in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the living and working conditions of waste pickers and their children in a landfill slum located in the largest city in eastern Indonesia. A total of 113 people from the landfill slum and 1184 people from the general population participated in face-to-face interviews. Municipal solid waste (MSW) was analyzed for metals, metalloids and fecal indicator bacteria. Ambient air quality including particulate matter was measured in the landfill. Households in the landfill slum were 5.73 (p=0.04) times more likely to be below the international poverty line (MDG 1: Poverty) and 15.6 times (p<0.01) more likely to have no one in the household possessing a primary education (MDG 2: Universal Education), and 107 times (p<0.01) more likely not to have improved sanitation facilities (MDG 7: Environmental Sustainability) when compared to the general population. Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death in children under five in Indonesia. Young children living in the landfill slum were 2.87 times (p=0.02) more likely to develop diarrhea than their general population counterparts. Other survey results and environmental measurements suggest that landfill slum children have additional adverse health effects (e.g. infections and poisoning). Poverty underlies several MDG issues that directly or indirectly affect child health. Therefore, eradicating extreme poverty will continue to be the most critical challenge for the MDGs beyond 2015.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Program, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA; Institute of the Study for Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA; Faculty of Public Health, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Electronic address: tshibata@niu.edu.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.affiliation: Institute of the Study for Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA; Department of Geography, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Public Health Program, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Lindsey M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.affiliation: Public Health Program, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Ivan V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Nikitin
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Public Health, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
authors.lastname: Ansariadi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Public Health, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
authors.forename: Ruslan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: La Ane
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Public Health, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
authors.forename: Alimin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maidin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D000067576:Child Health; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012499:Sanitation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities
keywords: Child health; Environments; Millennium Development Goals; Waste pickers; Well-being