Caging Bird Flu

Health is a basic human right and a fundamental investment of the concerned individual, the family and community; and also the country in which that community resides. This was part of a statement made a group of experts regarding the polio outbreak; and it is appropriate again to remember it now that we have so many chilling reports of confirmed cases of avian flu affecting humans.

Don't panic, the government says, as there has not been any case of the virus jumping from humans to humans; while in the same breath Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari echoes the warning of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the virus might mutate, at an unknown time, and through a yet unknown way, into something else that can spread through humans.

The minister on Monday declared that the recent outbreak of bird flu was what is referred to in governmental circles as "an extraordinary situation" at the national level. Vigilance is the key, we're told, and cleanliness in our surroundings, whether or not we have poultry farms near us and whether or not we're determined to go on eating chicken.

The main issue now is how this "extraordinary" nationwide situation will be addressed on the ground. An information campaign will be needed to educate the man on the street, and separate information drives will be required for local authorities anxious to prevent public unease, or even unrest, in their areas.

The government needs to seek lessons from the not so distant past, when an "extraordinary" situation was declared for dengue fever. Has the government managed to overcome, for instance, the reluctance of hospitals to treat patients, or their excuses that they are full or that they have not received the funds promised by the government to enable them to treat patients for free?

If we are in an "extraordinary" situation, then how can local authorities, such as the one in Bogor, West Java, blithely say, as quoted in a report on Monday, that the regency is free of bird flu? What needs to be done so that we no longer hear local authorities boasting that their farm workers are toiling away as usual, with no gloves or other protective gear whatsoever?

And business owners will be demanding to know what the government is doing for them and their millions of employees -- especially given that the worst is likely yet to come.

A WHO communicable diseases expert, Hitoshi Oshitani, said as quoted by Reuters that, "It will take scientists four to six months to develop a vaccine that protects against the pandemic virus, by which time thousands could have died. There is little likelihood a vaccine will even reach the country where the pandemic starts."

We would like to state here that we basically support the taking of all necessary measures that could serve to check the spread of the virus, and hope that WHO and all relevant bodies lend their support to Indonesia, which has little, though not zero, experience of such "extraordinary" situations.

On an individual level, everyone in the country will need to report to the medical authorities symptoms such as breathing difficulties, and when necessary may have to be quarantined, as pointed out by the minister.

A very uncomfortable question is whether the government did all that it could to prevent the virus from taking hold after it first came to light here in 2003. With a number of Indonesians already having lost their lives to the virus, it should be clear that it is no longer the time for choosing between the interests of the poultry industry and those of the public at large.

The media should also grow up, eschew sensationalism and refrain from launching witch-hunts -- some outlets have even published the house numbers of those unfortunate enough to have come down with bird flu. We need to learn from our experiences with dengue fever: that anyone, anywhere, can be affected. It should also be remembered that Indonesia, like many other developing countries, is particularly at risk due to the practice of keeping poultry in densely populated neighborhoods.