Indonesia SARS information being questioned by public<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
While most southeast Asian countries have been hard hit by
\nSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Indonesia has the least
\nnumber of victims, as reported by the World Health Organization
\n(WHO), despite its lax measures for coping with the disease.<\/p>\n
Health officers in Indonesia's major entry points, such as
\nSoekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, and Ngurah Rai
\nInternational Airport, Denpasar, have not yet started to carry
\nout individual health examinations on departing and arriving
\npassengers.<\/p>\n
Lack of sophisticated equipment, such as thermal scanners, has
\nmade the officials rely on their own common sense and simple
\ndevices.<\/p>\n
This situation has cast doubt among the public, particularly
\nexpatriates, on whether the government is capable of containing
\nthe flu-like disease, which has so far killed some 430 of over
\n6,000 people affected.<\/p>\n
As of Monday, Indonesia's close neighbors Singapore recorded
\n25 deaths from 203 cases, Malaysia two deaths of six cases and
\nthe Philippines two deaths of three cases, according to WHO.<\/p>\n
Since the world body declared SARS a global threat in mid-
\nApril, Indonesia has been relatively unaffected, with only two
\nprobable cases. Of the two, one has left for Hong Kong and the
\nother has been discharged from the hospital due to his improving
\nhealth status.<\/p>\n
An expatriate who lives in Jakarta, Angeline, said that she
\nwas concerned at the disease, as no clear, accurate information
\nwas available from the authorities.<\/p>\n
A foreign diplomat also made the same comment. He was confused
\nby the changing data for SARS patients announced by the Ministry
\nof Health.<\/p>\n
\"The minister said there were two probable cases, while
\nanother official said there were none,\" he observed.<\/p>\n
Earlier last month, Hong Kong-based Political and Economic
\nRisk Consultancy (PERC), carried out a survey on 1,072 expatriate
\nbusiness executives working in 12 Asian countries, on their
\nconfidence in their host countries to deal with a major health
\ncrisis such as SARS.<\/p>\n
The survey, as quoted by AFP, revealed that respondents had
\nthe least confidence in Indonesia, followed by India, China and
\nVietnam. On a scale of zero to 10, with zero the best grade and
\n10 the worst, Indonesia scored 9.14.<\/p>\n
Tjandra Yoga Aditama, a pulmonologist from Persahabatan
\nHospital, East Jakarta, said he had encountered many questions
\nraised by expatriates about SARS in the country, during his
\nrecent visit to Balikpapan in West Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"It is strange that Indonesia, which is geographically very
\nclose to Singapore and has a large flow of people traveling
\ninside and outside the country, has a very small number of SARS
\npatients,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"But if we were to say that the government were covering
\nsomething up, at least there should have been discussion on the
\nreality with pulmonologists like us, but in this case that hasn't
\nhappened,\" said Tjandra.<\/p>\n
\"Suspected patients have also come from distinctly separate
\nareas, unlike cases abroad, where most patients were related to
\neach other, either as colleagues, neighbors, family, spouses or
\nfriends.\"<\/p>\n
Secretary General of Communicable Disease Eradication and
\nEnvironmental Health (P2M) Syafi'i Ahmad brushed aside suspicion
\nthat the government had withheld data on SARS, saying the
\nprecautionary measures taken by the government, \"have proven to
\nwork effectively.\"<\/p>\n
\"We have prevented community transmission in the country by
\nenforcing screening at entry ports,\" he said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Chinese authorities once tried to cover up the number of SARS-
\ninfected patients in their country, but later had to reveal the
\ntruth, as they could no longer contain the outbreaks anymore.<\/p>\n
This prompted the dismissal of health minister Zhang Wenkang
\nand Beijing mayor Meng Xuenong in April, to restore public faith
\nin the government's capacity to deal with SARS.<\/p>\n
Will the same thing happen here?<\/p>\n
Just like the disease itself, which has left the planet with
\n101 burning questions, the spread of SARS in the country will
\nremain an enigma to many.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-sars-information-being-questioned-by-public-1447893297",
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