City boosts campaign on dengue

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Residents of low-cost apartments about 200 meters from the Pulo Gadung bus station in East Jakarta looked busy on Friday morning as Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo and other city officials visited their neighborhood for a 30-minute cleanup campaign.

City officials have been taking turns to visit housing complexes and public places every Friday in the city to remind Jakartans to clean up their homes and surroundings to prevent the proliferation of dengue, the campaign for which started in November last year.

"Every Friday not only the governor and the deputy governor, but also subdistrict heads and village chiefs go around the city to remind residents of the importance of cleaning up their neighborhoods," said Jakarta Health Agency head Abdul Chalik Masulili.

He added that such a preventive action was not easy to implement. Therefore, it would be continuously performed until cleanup activities became a habit in the community.

The event was also attended by East Jakarta Mayor Koesnan Abdul Halim and East Jakarta health agency head Widyastuti.

The campaign was originally scheduled to take place at the Pulo Gadung bus station, but it was shifted to the low-cost apartment complex.

An employee at the bus terminal said," We had set up arrangements for the campaign here but they moved the activity to the low-cost apartment complex because they said it was easier to monitor a residential area than a bus terminal."

That day, Suryani, 28 had prepared herself.

"We were told last night at 11 p.m. that Pak Fauzi Bowo was coming to visit us," said Suryani who wore a sports outfit.

She said that officials' visits were useful for her and her neighbors as the officials shared their knowledge to prevent the spread of dengue by cleaning their homes frequently.

The residents were encouraged to drain standing water, cover water tanks and bury used bottles or cans.

As a result, she said, none of the residents contracted dengue fever this year. Two adults were infected last year.

Besides the 30-minute cleanup campaign, the health agency has built posts in community units to check whether the areas were free of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue.

Dozens of university students also took part in the campaign against dengue.

"But the most effective way to prevent it is this 30-minute cleanup program," Abdul Chalik said. (004)