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.