Doctors ordered to stay put for dengue patients

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu, West Java

Despite signs of a decline in dengue fever cases across Indonesia, the Indramayu regency administration has maintained its ban on local doctors and other medical workers from leaving the area or taking leave.

The temporary ban will continue to be enforced until after the latest dengue epidemic comes to an end, Indramayu Regent Irianto MS Syafiuddin said here on Monday.

He warned that those trying to defy the ban would face stern sanctions from his administration.

"I reaffirm that as long as there is an extraordinary number of dengue fever cases, all doctors and other medical workers employed in Indramayu will not be allowed to take leave or go out of the area.

"If this prohibition is breached, they will be subjected to administrative sanctions," the regent said.

He argued that the spread of dengue fever required a serious effort from all involved, particularly doctors.

"That's why from the beginning I have ordered all physicians to stay at their workplaces," he said.

He said that if doctors were found to have breached the rule or to have given inadequate care to patients with dengue fever, they could be suspended or fired.

The regent said dengue fever victims did not have to worry about their medical expenses as the local government would cover them all.

"The (West Java) governor has instructed us to provide free medical services to all patients with dengue fever, and we are complying with this instruction," he said.

Irianto said the number of patients had decreased over the last few weeks but added that the local administration would remain alert for the possibility of new outbreaks of the disease amid the current rainy season.

Data from the Indramayu health office shows that at least 375 people in the regency have been infected with the mosquito-borne virus, with 12 of them subsequently dying.