Schools dig deep into pockets to fight dengue<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Spending 15 minutes to sweep classrooms and schoolyards, cleaning
\ntoilets before classes start every Friday morning, is not a
\nburden for students of State Junior High School 103 in Cijantung,
\nEast Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The school has been encouraging us to do these activities
\nsince December 2004 to make the PSN (the city's campaign against
\ndengue) a success. It is okay with us, but it makes us a little
\nbit tired,\" third grader Pudi told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The city administration has declared 84 subdistricts in the
\ncapital as dengue-infected areas, including Cijantung, Cawang and
\nLubang Buaya in East Jakarta, Karet Tengsin in Central Jakarta,
\nRawa Badak in North Jakarta, and Cilandak in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
To contain the fever, which has infected some 1,700 people and
\nclaimed 17 lives, the city administration appealed to the public
\nto clean bathroom water tubs once a week, cover water containers,
\nand bury any unused items that could hold water.<\/p>\n
The administration has also enlisted the services of hundreds
\nof nursing students from 40 medical and nursing schools in the
\ncapital to take part in awareness campaigns.<\/p>\n
To help dengue patients, the city administration has set aside
\nRp 1.5 billion to pay medical bills incurred in third-class-wards
\nof 17 public hospitals and 58 non-government hospitals, conducted
\nsimultaneous blanket fumigation, and run campaigns to raise
\npeople's awareness of the dangers of dengue fever.<\/p>\n
Pudi said they also sprayed insecticide in their classrooms.<\/p>\n
\"This is the first time the school has done this. Last year,
\nwhen a similar outbreak occurred, we weren't told to do the
\nclean-ups. The school was only fumigated,\" she added.<\/p>\n
The school's deputy headmaster Dachri Suraatmadja said since
\nthe beginning of this year's outbreak, no health official from
\nthe district or subdistrict has come to fumigate the school area.<\/p>\n
\"No official has come to fumigate the school or inform of the
\naction needed to contain the outbreak, but we were ordered by
\nGovernor Sutiyoso to allocate some funds for the anti-dengue
\ncampaign,\" said Dachri.<\/p>\n
\"We have spent around Rp 6 million of the Rp 22,500,000
\nallocated to the school's health unit, and it has only been four
\nFridays,\" the school's treasurer Kusnadi told the Post.<\/p>\n
The funds were used to cover operational costs of the anti-
\ndengue campaign, including buying insecticide sprays and cleaning
\nsupplies.<\/p>\n
A health teacher at a state elementary school in Baru
\nsubdistrict in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, also said that the
\nschool has taken funds from the health unit budget to cover the
\ncost of cleaning operations and educating the students about the
\ndangers of dengue fever.<\/p>\n
The teacher said that teaching elementary school students
\nabout dengue and how to prevent it was not easy, especially to
\nfirst, second and third graders.<\/p>\n
\"We have to use audiovisual aids to help the students
\nunderstand,\" he said. (001)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/schools-dig-deep-into-pockets-to-fight-dengue-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}