Govt prepares for possible SARS outbreak

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government claims it has taken the necessary measures to prevent a possible recurrence of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Indonesia, following a confirmed SARS case on Monday in China.

Secretary of the health ministry's SARS verification team Azimal said on Wednesday that the government provided three training sessions in June, August and September for Immigration Customs Quarantine (ICQ) workers at airports and seaports.

"Approximately 90 ICQ workers across the country joined the training. We conducted simulated procedures for handling people showing SARS-like symptoms," said Azimal.

He said the government, together with the World Health Organization (WHO), had also held several training courses for hospital staff and requested more funds for additional courses this year.

Several thermal scanners are in place at airports in Jakarta and Bali to detect and identify incoming passengers, he said. Body temperatures exceeding 39 degrees Celsius is the most easily detected symptom.

However, no visible measures were being taken as of Tuesday at Polonia airport in Medan, North Sumatra, where passengers were not being examined upon arrival.

Responding to the report, Azimal said the ICQ at Polonia airport lacked the human resources to perform checks on incoming visitors. He said the government had asked airport management to install thermal scanners.

Director of Surveillance, Epidemiology, Immunization and Health Indriyono at the ministry said the government had thus far prepared 45 health centers at airports and seaports across the country and appointed 38 hospitals to handle SARS cases.

He said that no suspected cases had been detected as yet in Indonesia.

A suspected SARS case was reported on Dec. 28 in Guangzhou, China, the first case since July 2003. The world's first SARS case emerged in November 2002, also in Guangzhou, and the disease spread across international borders in the first half of 2003.

In Canada, 38 people died from SARS, 348 in China, 298 in Hong Kong, 84 in Taiwan, two in the Philippines, 32 in Singapore, two in Thailand, and five in Vietnam. Several isolated cases were diagnosed in Indonesia, but no fatalities were recorded.