President to spearhead antimosquito campaign<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government will introduce next week an intensive mosquito
\neradication campaign in an effort to stop the spread of dengue
\nfever, which has killed 120 people in six provinces, according to
\na minister.<\/p>\n
The six provinces have since been put an high alert.<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will lead the campaign, in
\nwhich he will be filmed either ridding his house or office of
\npossible breeding places of the aedes aegypti mosquito, the
\nvector of the dengue virus.<\/p>\n
Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said that such a
\ncampaign had been effective in Cuba, which managed to reduce
\ndengue fever cases to zero.<\/p>\n
She said the campaign would initially be launched in Jakarta,
\nwhich once again has borne the brunt of the current dengue
\noutbreak.<\/p>\n
\"The campaign is aimed at encouraging public participation to
\neradicate aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit the disease,
\nand its eggs. The government can do nothing to stop the disease
\nfrom spreading without the support of the people to clean up
\ntheir environment,\" she told the press after a meeting with
\nSusilo at the presidential office.<\/p>\n
\"People must work together to eradicate the disease,\" she
\nsaid, adding that cleaning one's local environment would be on a
\nvoluntary basis.<\/p>\n
Siti said Susilo had devised the nationwide campaign after
\nvisiting a number of patients in a Jakarta hospital. She was
\nunable to provide a general outline of the campaign.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe there will be sirens or kentongan to inform people to
\nclean their environment together,\" Siti said.<\/p>\n
Asked on why the government was only just launching such a
\ncampaign despite dengue outbreaks occurring annually, Siti said
\nher office had introduced a TV campaign in November.<\/p>\n
\"I've been on television since November, but people haven't
\npaid any attention,\" Siti said, adding that the eggs of the aedes
\naegypti were laid in clean water and the current rainy season in
\nmost parts of the country increased the locations that the
\nmosquitoes could lay eggs.<\/p>\n
She said the number of dengue patients as of Thursday totaled
\n5,064 and 120 deaths, but added that the number of dengue
\npatients in February last year was much higher at 20,000 and 280
\ndeaths.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Health recently declared a dengue emergency in
\nsix provinces, namely Jakarta, West Java, East Kalimantan, South
\nSulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara, which were
\namong the 12 provinces hardest hit last year.<\/p>\n
Under the emergency, state hospitals must treat dengue
\npatients in third-class wards for free.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Siti said the government was ready to disburse Rp
\n150 billion to finance the medication of destitute dengue
\npatients.<\/p>",
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