Agency slow to spread bird flu info

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

What is the key to combating bird flu? The answer may be as simple as good personal and environmental hygiene, but Jakarta health officials have been slow to share this information with the public.

While one more person with bird flu died on Monday and 22 others are under observation at Sulianti Saroso Hospital in North Jakarta, the city health agency has been more focused on curative than preventive measures.

However, community health centers in areas where bird flu has been reported have been more active in disseminating information on bird flu and how to contain the virus.

"We asked health officials to talk to local residents on how to deal with bird flu right after the closure of Ragunan Zoo," said Ragunan sub-district head Fihir Sadil.

But the campaign only reached a few locals since it was held in the sub-district office. The sub-district itself is diverse as kampong areas are located nearby upmarket residences.

Local health center staff have distributed flyers on preventive measures as well as the symptoms of bird flu.

A similar campaign has been launched in Pesanggrahan sub- district, where the city saw its first bird flu fatality.

However, bird-flu free areas have not been so active in educating residents, particularly poultry keepers.

"We were only told by health officers to have ourselves checked if we came down with the flu," said Wiguno Adi, a resident of Jagakarsa, South Jakarta.

Community health workers in Cilandak and Pondok Labu, South Jakarta, said they had only been told to watch out for patients showing symptoms of bird flu.

"We are few in number. We can't go door-to-door instructing people to observe good hygiene," said a doctor at the center who refused to be identified.

City health agency spokesperson Zelvyno said the agency had told community health workers to meet with locals and reeducate them on good hygiene.

"It is up to the centers to allow time for the campaign, there is no special budget for it," she said.

The government has put the outbreak of bird flu under extraordinary status, a level that requires the government to pool its resources to fight the disease.

The health ministry's director for communicable diseases and environmental health I Nyoman Kandun said if residents observed good hygiene the risk of the virus spreading would be reduced by 95 percent.

"It will also help us fight other diseases like hepatitis," he said. (003)