Awareness key to dengue prevention<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The frantic clean-up drives and fumigation of neighborhoods
\naffected by the dengue fever outbreak will do little to stem the
\ndisease if people do not change their living habits, said a
\nhealth official.<\/p>\n
\"People tend to forget the danger of dengue fever if there are
\nno victims in their neighborhood in the off season, while they
\nclean their houses in a panic when somebody dies nearby,\" said
\nhead of the Tanah Abang Community Health Center Dr. Benny Patuwo.<\/p>\n
Benny said the aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the
\ndengue virus, lived and laid eggs all year round. He urged people
\nto clean up empty cans or containers filled with water throughout
\nthe year to break the mosquito's reproductive cycle -- not only
\nafter neighbors or family members had died of the disease.<\/p>\n
\"The outbreak will continue to recur in Jakarta if this habit
\n(to clean up) does not become a part of their everyday behavior.\"<\/p>\n
For example, he said, dengue outbreaks prevailed in Tanah
\nAbang, Central Jakarta, despite continued efforts by the health
\ncenter to inform and educate the public on preventive behavior
\nthrough leaflets and public information banners.<\/p>\n
\"So far, three people have died from dengue fever, while 44
\nothers have been treated for the disease in several Tanah Abang
\nhospitals since January.\"<\/p>\n
Officials at Palmerah Community Health Center, West Jakarta,
\nalso claimed that they had conducted an intensive public
\nawareness campaign since the dengue outbreak began in January.<\/p>\n
\"In Palmerah, 88 people have been infected... It is now up to
\nthe residents to stop the outbreak, because we have conducted
\nmany campaigns to help prevent the disease from spreading,\" said
\nIrma, a health center doctor.<\/p>\n
Director-general of Communicable Diseases Umar Fahmi at the
\nMinistry of Health has repeatedly called on the public to throw
\nout standing water -- the mosquitoes' breeding grounds -- and
\nstressed that fumigating the neighborhood would not be effective,
\nas it would only kill adult mosquitoes and not their larvae or
\nnymphs.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Health Agency had earlier warned that dengue fever
\nhad a five-year high outbreak cycle. The last two high outbreaks
\nwere in 1998 and 2003, when 15,360 and 14,071 residents were
\naffected, respectively.<\/p>\n
Iskandar Sitorus, chairman of the Legal Aid Foundation for
\nHealth (LBH Kesehatan), regretted the authorities' tendency to
\nblame the public, saying that the government was responsible for
\nthe people's education in order to eradicate the disease.<\/p>\n
\"Law No. 23\/92 on health stipulates that the government is be
\nresponsible for eradicating disease. The fact is, the health
\nagency has been unsuccessful in preventing the dengue fever
\noutbreak because, according to our observations, 30 people have
\ndied in Greater Jakarta hospitals while many more have died
\nwithout sufficient treatment in their own homes.\"<\/p>\n
According to the Ministry of Health, dengue fever has so far
\naffected 2,046 Jakartans, with 16 succumbing to the disease,
\nwhile across Java, 2,200 have contracted the disease and 61 have
\ndied from it.<\/p>\n
Iskandar also blasted the administration's slow reaction in
\npublicizing and combating the dengue outbreak.<\/p>\n
The city administration has only recently planned to gather
\nall subdistrict councils at City Hall on Wednesday to brief them
\non preventive measures to cope with the outbreak.<\/p>\n
Health minister Achmad Suyudi is expected to attend.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/awareness-key-to-dengue-prevention-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }