Govt to send in Army for bird flu battle
Govt to send in Army for bird flu battle
Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The increasing number of birth flu deaths in the country is
prompting the government to deploy troops and volunteers to
conduct door-to-door checks to find fowls infected with the
virus.
The search would first be concentrated in Greater Jakarta and
areas deemed "difficult" for officials to detect the avian
influenza virus, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on
Monday.
"We have to address this problem quickly. There should be a
door-to-door inspection by volunteers, university students and
military personnel to ensure the areas are clear from bird flu,"
Susilo said.
Technical implementation would be discussed further with local
administrations, he said, with the government trying to avoid
violating the autonomy law.
"We should not (however) underestimate this problem. There
must be an intensive campaign to make the public aware of the
virus," he said.
The bird flu virus has killed at least 64 people in Asia since
the end of 2003 and was detected in Eastern Europe last month. In
Indonesia alone, nine people are confirmed to have contracted the
virus in the past 10 months, with five of them dying. Two more
suspected fatalities will be confirmed by the World Health
Organization laboratory in Hong Kong this month.
Susilo said the Greater Jakarta had become the government's
initial focus because four of the five people who died of bird
flu had lived in the area.
He dismissed criticism of the government's slow response in
containing the outbreak. The international community had praised
Indonesia's efforts addressing the problem, considering its
limited financial resources, Susilo said.
Despite an unspecified financial offer by World Bank President
Paul Wolfowitz to help Indonesia conduct a mass cull, Susilo said
"stamping out (the disease) would not be easy as it would need
billions of rupiah".
According to a report from the United Nation's Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), 30 million village households in
Indonesia are keeping around 200 million chickens, excluding wild
birds, increasing the risk for a deadly pandemic.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said the
government also planned to vaccinate 40 million children against
seasonal cold and influenza viruses, in order to reduce their
risk of infection.
"We are planning to increase the production of an upgraded flu
vaccine, which will be sold at a cheaper price. This is to help
prevent people suffering from a common flu from getting the avian
influenza virus," she said.
She added the government planned to increase the country's
stocks of flu medicines, including Tamiflu and Relenza, from
750,000 pills to about 20 million.
The government's plan to contain bird flu:
1. Deploying troops and volunteers to conduct door-to-door
searches for infected poultry.
2. Forming a special desk at the Office of the Coordinating
Minister for the People's Welfare, which will be tasked with
monitoring the development of the outbreak in the country around
the clock.
3. A national campaign on bird flu aimed at increasing public
awareness about the dangers and symptoms of the virus.
4. Increasing the supply of influenza vaccines and pills from the
current 750,000 to 20 million and starting negotiations with
overseas producers.
5. Ordering state pharmaceutical firm PT Bio Farma to produce the
vaccines.
6. Vaccinating some 40 million children above five years old from
seasonal influenza.
7. Improving cooperation between the government and local
administrations in containing the avian influenza and educating
the public.
8. Providing enough protective equipment for hospitals.
9. Raising next year's allocated fund for bird flu containment.
Based on the 2006 state budget, the Ministry of Agriculture and
the Ministry of Health will receive Rp 200 billion (US$20
million) and Rp 150 billion, respectively, next year.
10. Seeking overseas grants for financing the virus' containment.