Govt has relied too much on the media

Govt has relied too much on the media

Avian influenza has caused fear across the country, with very few
people having any real understanding about how to protect
themselves against exposure to the virus. The Jakarta Post asked
two doctors about whether the government had done enough to
contain the disease.

Satriadi Harsono, 25, is a doctor working for a private
hospital in Tangerang, Banten. He lives in Karawaci, Tangerang.

I think that the government, especially the Ministry of
Agriculture, has done very little to help explain how the disease
spreads.

That makes it difficult for health officials to develop
strategic precautionary measures, aside from telling people to
keep the environment clean.

By the way, there has not been any sort of major campaign
launched, either. The government has been relying too much on the
media to spread the word, while in fact it would make a big
difference if the government was to launch a national campaign.

Marius Widjajarta, is a doctor who is also chairman of the
Indonesian Health Consumers' Empowerment Foundation.

The health ministry has done quite a good job. First of all,
unlike in the old days, they did not cover up or deny the
existence of the disease.

They have handled the patients quite well, too. However, they
should provide more information to the public on where they can
go for help.

To date, they have been stating that there are 44 referral
hospitals ready to treat bird flu patients throughout the
country, but they never named all of them.

It is a different case with the agriculture ministry. They
need to speed up their response because the disease is related to
poultry. So far, there has been no significant response from
them.

The Jakarta Post