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