Bali's tourist sector fears dengue outbreak
By Sutha Sastradhinata
DENPASAR (Antara): The country's tourist industry is trying desperately to fend off the stinging blows from unfavorable international media reports.
Along with the mortifying reports on forest fires and widespread riots, add a fresh nemesis: the outbreak of dengue fever in several provinces.
Its name almost synonymous with tourists and resorts in the country, Bali has also, unfortunately, been hit by the mosquito- borne disease. It is now gripped by fears about possible side effects on the tourist industry as foreign tour operators have started to inquire about the situation.
The Japanese government has reportedly even warned its citizens to be wary when visiting Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.
Bali Governor Ida Bagus Oka, in trying to quell all the anxiety, has even given his assurances that no foreign visitors to the province would be infected.
"I give my assurance that tourists visiting Bali will never get a dengue fever. Bali is well prepared to overcome this disease."
He said that while there was no medicine available to cure dengue fever, this did not mean the problem could not be overcome or eradicated. The physician and former rector of state-owned Udayana University here said it was most important for people with symptoms of the disease to seek medical treatment, particularly to receive intravenous fluids.
He said the provincial administration had adequate intravenous infusion supplies in anticipation of more cases of the disease.
The chairman of the Balinese executive board of the Indonesian Association of Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI), I Gde Wirata, said the association had not received any complaints from tourists about the outbreak in Bali.
Nevertheless, he said the association had called on all hotels in Bali to monitor sanitation and environmental cleanliness.
It is expected that the dengue fever epidemic, whose virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypty mosquito, would be brought to an end soon.
An official of the provincial office of the ministry of health, I Wayan Astawa, estimated that the dengue fever cycle would end later this month.
"If the campaign launched in March and April to eliminate mosquito breeding areas is successfully implemented, the dengue fever cycle is expected to come to an end in late May. Bali is one of the provinces considered quite successful in dealing with the dengue fever epidemic," he said.
He said that to speed up the termination of the dengue fever, which usually arrived in the monsoon season, the Bali provincial health ministry office had embarked on a number of measures, including mass fumigations in areas close to roads and those inaccessible to vehicles.
Last February, he said, health services in all districts in Bali undertook mass fumigation. However, as the number of dengue fever patients is on the rise, another round of mass fumigations was conducted, he added.
The office also urged all hotels, particularly those still using open water tanks in bathrooms, to continue to be alert to the possibility of tourists being infected by the disease, he added.
Data at the Bali regional office of the ministry of health shows that the incidence of dengue fever in Bali was 191 cases in January to March of this year, of which there were six fatalities. Topping the list of dengue fever cases during this period was Denpasar municipality (117), Buleleng and Badung districts (24 each), Karangasem (12), Gianyar (11) and Tabanan district (1). No cases have been reported in Klungkung, Bangli and Jembrana districts.
Head of the Bali regional office of the ministry of health, Wayan Semendra, meanwhile said that the incidence of the disease this year was actually lower than in 1997, when 707 cases of dengue fever were reported. In 1996 and 1995, he added, there were 260 and 144 cases respectively.
He blamed the fatalities on people seeking help when their illness was already too advanced.