City in dark on lack of bird flu info<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta\/Bogor<\/p>\n
Despite the wide media coverage on the outbreak of avian
\ninfluenza, or bird flu, many Jakartans are relatively uninformed
\non the contagious disease due to a lack of a public health and
\ninformation campaign by the Jakarta administration.<\/p>\n
Instead of reaching out to residents with complete and
\naccurate information on the disease via a direct campaign, the
\nJakarta Health Agency told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that it
\nrelied on its officers at community health centers and hospitals
\nto disseminate information to the public.<\/p>\n
\"We have gathered our officials from community health centers
\nand hospitals to tell them about the outbreak... Besides, we have
\ncontinued informing the public on the dangers of bird flu and
\nmeasures to contain the outbreak on radio and television,\" said
\nagency spokeswoman Evy Zelvino.<\/p>\n
She admitted that the agency had no other outreach plans.<\/p>\n
The agency appears not to have considered the fact that not
\nall of the capital's eight million residents visit community
\nhealth centers or hospitals regularly.<\/p>\n
\"I have lived in the city for more than six years, but
\nhonestly, I've never visited a community health center. I seldom
\ngo to the hospital unless I am really sick,\" said Maria, 28, from
\nKaret, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The health agency has only distributed 10,000 leaflets on the
\nsymptoms and prevention of bird flu to community health centers
\naround the city. It advises the people to cook chicken meat and
\neggs properly -- at temperatures of above 80 degrees Celsius for
\nmeat and above 60 degrees for eggs -- to prevent infection.<\/p>\n
Evy said the health agency had cooperated with the City Animal
\nHusbandry, Fishery an Maritime Affairs Agency to conduct a health
\ncampaign for workers who have daily, direct contact with chickens
\nat farms, including the use of masks and disinfectants.<\/p>\n
However, the limited outreach of information has left many
\nresidents poorly informed on the dangers and prevention of bird
\nflu.<\/p>\n
While the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised against
\nbuying live chickens at open markets, many Jakartans continue to
\ndo so, arguing that they would be more convinced by the healthy
\nappearance of live chickens -- as opposed to slaughtered and
\nplucked chickens -- that the poultry were bird-flu free.<\/p>\n
Most Jakartans seem to be unaware that processed meats are
\nsafer than live chickens.<\/p>\n
WHO has said that the H5N1 virus, the only strain of bird flu
\nknown to be fatal to humans, might transmit to humans through
\ndirect contact with live, infected chickens. The bird flu toll
\nhas risen to 18 in Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the city health agency said there had been no
\nreports so far that any Jakartan had contracted the virus.<\/p>\n
Veterinarian Agus Lelana, spokesman of the Bogor Institute of
\nAgriculture, said on Sunday that the government should have taken
\na comprehensive measure by tightening poultry imports to prevent
\nthe possible spread of the virus.<\/p>\n
Agus said the Indonesian Veterinarian Association had
\nrecommended the government to set up a national quarantine body
\nfor animals and plants to prevent any viruses from spreading, but
\nthat this had not been implemented.<\/p>",
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