Beware of dengue fever<\/p>\n
As many as 32 of 5,800 people suffering from dengue fever in
\nJakarta have died since January, while last year 5,750 cases of
\nthe same scourge occurred in Jakarta, but the number of
\nfatalities was not made available.<\/p>\n
This is a shocking reality that deserves the serious attention
\nof the public, the government and the city administration.
\nSurprisingly, however, head of the City Health Agency Choliq
\nMasulili described this year's situation as \"normal\", merely
\nbecause the fatalities amounted to \"only\" 0.05 percent of the
\ntotal dengue fever cases that occurred in the capital city during
\nthe last four-and-a-half months.<\/p>\n
Early in March this year, a health official warned of the
\npossibility that the capital could experience the peak of the
\nlethal disease's five-year cycle during this year. In May,
\nanother official from the same office announced that 32 people
\nwere killed by the disease.<\/p>\n
What does all this mean?<\/p>\n
Data recorded by the City Health Agency shows that cases of
\ndengue fever in the Greater Jakarta area hit a high of 15,360 in
\n1998, 3,998 in 1999, 8,729 in 2,000, 8,820 in 2001 and 5,750 in
\n2002. Either the population has failed to respond to City Health
\nAgency warnings, or the agency has done nothing significant to
\nencourage the public to deal with the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
\nthat carry the dengue fever virus.<\/p>\n
The large number of victims could also indicate poor public
\nawareness of the importance of healthy living in a healthy
\nenvironment. Most residents, however, have been duly informed of
\nthe vital importance of keeping their neighborhoods clean in
\norder to prevent the disease from spreading. They surely also
\nknow that the disease is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti
\nmosquito, which lays its eggs on the surface of pools of water.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, any visitor to most of Jakarta's kampong
\nneighborhoods is most likely to be presented with the sickening
\nsight of clogged, open sewers and residential complexes that are
\nfar from clean and tidy. It appears that many of Jakarta's
\nresidents are still ignorant of the importance of environmental
\nhealth, which they seem to consider second in importance to
\nearning their day-to-day income.<\/p>\n
There are those who speculate that the public's ignorance
\ncould be seen as an apathetic response to the constant exposure
\nto anti-dengue fever campaigns on televisions, which have been
\naired for years. New diseases, such as Severe Acute Respiratory
\nSyndrome (SARS) may have diverted public attention away from the
\ndengue scare.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, concrete data to substantiate such conclusions
\ndoes not exist. Therefore, a study by local health offices in
\ncooperation with local administrations is needed, in order to
\nfind out why people have failed to protect themselves against
\ndengue fever attacks, despite repeated warnings.<\/p>\n
People are usually jolted and become aware of the hazard of
\ndengue fever only after members of their family or neighbors are
\nstricken by the disease. Another factor could be that the
\nauthorities' efforts to help the public curb the spread of the
\ndisease have been inconsistent. We have heard complaints from
\nresidents about the difficulty of getting help from either their
\ndistrict or subdistrict offices, whenever cases of dengue are
\nreported by the public. What residents usually do in such cases
\nis act on their own to raise funds to pay for fumigation in their
\nneighborhood.<\/p>\n
Implied in this complaint, apparently, is the suspicion that
\nfumigation and other efforts to eradicate mosquito larvae might
\nbe a profitable business for at least some of those in charge of
\nhealth affairs at the subdistrict or district level. In short,
\nthe public cannot rely on the authorities to combat dengue
\noutbreaks.<\/p>\n
One doctor in Jakarta revealed that in 2001 the government set
\naside only Rp 2 billion (approximately US$225,000) for fumigation
\nto eradicate mosquitoes. The ideal amount was Rp 9 billion to Rp
\n10 billion. That is why it is important that the public is made
\naware that it cannot rely on the authorities for prevention of
\nthe disease, but that they must take the initiative themselves.<\/p>\n
It is imperative that everyone in the city be aware of the
\ndanger of the disease and thus maintain the cleanliness of their
\nenvironment. In the meantime, we can only hope that the
\nauthorities will be more proactive and vigorous in their efforts
\nto prevent the scourge by improving their databases on everything
\nrelated to the disease.<\/p>",
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