Government promises to deal with dengue fever
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has claimed it has prepared measures to keep dengue fever under control within the next three months, although the number of people infected and killed has been on the rise since the outbreak was detected in January.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said on Monday the government was focusing on action to curb infection and casualty rates by providing free medical services and encouraging people's participation in killing the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
"Our target in the next three months is to bring down the number of dengue fever sufferers to below 35,000, with a casualty rate of 1 percent," Kalla said after leading a coordination meeting at his office.
Three months into the outbreak, the disease has affected 19,150 people in 25 provinces and killed 338 of them. Jakarta has been the hardest hit area with 6,387 cases, and 65 dead.
Kalla said the government would ask regional governments to encourage residents to participate in the nationwide dengue fever eradication program at least once a week by cleaning bathtubs and water tanks and burying unused containers.
The government will also intensify fumigation and provide powder to kill the mosquito larvae.
The government will appoint 10,000 jumantik (field workers), who will be dispatched to 10,000 villages across the country to disseminate information on dengue fever and make door-to-door checks on whether residents have taken precautionary measures.
"The involvement of jumantik will speed up the eradication program as they will eliminate the Aedes aegypti larvae so that they cannot spread the disease," Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said.
Sujudi added the ministry had disbursed one-third of its Rp 150 billion (US$17.85 million) emergency fund to help the nationwide fight against dengue fever.
He added that West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Java, East Java and Bali had each received Rp 500 million in the form of cash and medical equipment.
Kalla dismissed reports that the government had turned a blind eye to dengue fever sufferers, saying free medical services had already been given to poor patients in third-class wards.
Sujudi also clarified the government's policy on free medical services for dengue fever patients in response to confusion among the public.
"State hospitals will provide free medical services for poor patients, while those treated in private hospitals will have free medication," Sujudi said.
He said the free services would be provided for anyone who could produce a health card or letter from their respective subdistrict chief confirming they were poor.
Earlier in the day, President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her husband, Taufik Kiemas, made a brief visit to dengue patients being treated at Persahabatan Hospital, East Jakarta.
During the visit, the President took time to speak with patients and their relatives, advising them to clean their homes to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Earlier on Saturday Vice President Hamzah Haz visited Budi Asih Hospital in Central Jakarta for the same purpose.
Persahabatan Hospital was donated by the then Soviet Union government and was inaugurated by Megawati's father, founding president Sukarno, in 1963.