All dengue patients to get free treatment, says health minister
All dengue patients to get free treatment, says health minister
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bandung/Kupang
The government announced on Thursday that all economically
disadvantaged patients suffering from dengue fever across the
country will get free medical treatment at state hospitals.
However, they first have to obtain a welfare card from local
authorities to prove that they cannot afford medical treatment.
Free medical treatment has so far been provided for dengue
patients only in the provinces of Jakarta, West Java, East
Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, West and East Nusa Tenggara, where
dengue fever has been on the rise.
"We have decided to give medical treatment free of charge
throughout the country, although it is usually provided only in
areas that have an extraordinary number of cases, simply because
we do not want to discriminate," Minister of Health Siti Fadilah
Supari said.
Speaking to the press after a ministerial meeting at the
office of the vice president, on Thursday, she also ordered
health agencies across the country to fumigate neighborhoods
where dengue was endemic and to determine the strain of dengue
virus that was prevalent.
Siti forecast that the dengue outbreak would peak around March
1, saying the number of patients is expected to drop after that.
"Currently, we have fewer than 10,000 patients with dengue
around the country. We hope there will be fewer than 15,000
patients for this year's dengue outbreak," she said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to launch a
national movement aimed at eradicating dengue-carrying mosquitoes
on Feb. 21 in Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the number of dengue patients in many areas across
the country continues to increase, although the government has
conducted public campaigns for covering water containers and
cleaning up or burying containers that could contain still water,
favored as a breeding places for mosquitoes.
In East Nusa Tenggara, around 2,000 people have contracted
dengue fever this year and at least 53 others have reportedly
died. Aside from dengue, many people are also suffering from
diarrhea which is common during the rainy season.
The highest number of dengue patients was found in the
provincial capital of Kupang, where nine people died and where
more than 500 people have been hospitalized.
Although the number of the patients is high, the local
administration had not improved treatment for the patients, local
administration officials said on Thursday.
They also said at least 20 people died as a result of diarrhea
in East Flores regency, and 1,754 others had diarrheal illnesses.
In Lembata regency five people died from diarrhea out of 190
patients.
Diarrhea has caused the most fatalities in East Nusa Tenggara
since November last year, while dengue started to spread in
January this year. A total number of fatalities reached 53,
mostly from East Flores.
In Bandung, West Java, senior health official Fatimah Resmiati
said on Thursday her office received a report on the deaths of 53
people from dengue fever.
More than 1,650 others from 25 towns and cities across the
province have contracted the disease, she said, adding that
Bekasi was the worst affected city where 198 patients have been
hospitalized and four others have died.