Government declares war against major diseases

The government will intensify efforts to combat disease this year in a bid to reverse its failure to control major diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, leprosy and dengue fever, health minister Sujudi says.

To achieve this goal, the government was planning to recruit another 66,000 medical personnel, Sujudi said in a year-end review of his ministry's performance.

Under the new program in 2002, every village across the country will have two new health workers. They will assist midwives and paramedics in the eradication of communicable diseases, the minister said.

Tuberculosis remains a major problem with 500,000 new cases, and 175,000 fatalities, reported each year. Mortality rates are high because people are reluctant to visit public health clinics and undergo routine treatment, he said.

Indonesia was declared free of malaria in 1970, but it has made a comeback since 1995 due to the lack of attention to maintaining cleanliness. According to the official statistics, an estimated six million people in 25 provinces have contracted malaria and 700 die of the disease every year.

The number of leprosy cases remains high in Indonesia this year. With 14,647 cases reported in 11 provinces, Indonesia has the fourth highest incidence of leprosy in the world after India, Brazil and Myanmar.

HIV/AIDS is also constantly on the rise. The health ministry has recorded 2,313 cases but the actual figure is estimated to reach 120,000.

Dengue fever, which was first recorded in 1968 in Surabaya and Jakarta with 59 cases, has reached epidemic proportions. In 2001, health officials recorded 6,797 cases in 16 provinces. --JP