It's official, Mega declares dengue a problem

It's official, Mega declares dengue a problem

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri expressed her sorrow and
offered help to the families of the country's dengue victims on
Thursday -- 255 deaths, thousands of cases and two months after
the beginning of the epidemic.

In a televised speech, the President offered a prayer for the
victims. She instructed governors, regents and mayors nationwide
to devote their energy to resolve the infectious illness, which
she described as a humanitarian threat.

Leaders should help the patients regardless of their
background or economic ability, she said.

"To the families of the deceased victims, on behalf of the
people and the government, I express my deepest condolences. I
pray that God gives you patience and endurance in facing this
hardship," the President said.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla and
Minister of Health Achmad Suyudi have insisted the government has
allocated enough funds to combat the disease and said it had
taken decisive action to stop the outbreak.

Both the President and the government have been criticized
before for not responding quickly enough to national emergencies
and disasters and for promising, but not delivering on, aid and
money to victims.

In her speech, Megawati asked people to clean up their
neighborhoods to kill the dengue mosquito and stop the spread of
the fever.

"Let us ensure that our neighborhoods don't serve as a nest
for the dangerous mosquito to live in," she said.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Red Cross head Mar'ie Muhammad called on
the public to donate blood to help patients.

"Many dengue patients are facing a shortage of blood,
therefore donors are needed urgently," Antara quoted Mar'ie as
saying.

As of Thursday, Jakarta's health agency reported 53 people had
died of the fever out of 5,431 reported cases.

The City administration, meanwhile, is sticking to its plan to
import 42 new mobile fumigation devices from the United States.

The devices would boost the capability of the administration
to fumigate a total area of 650,000 hectares monthly. Jakarta
presently has 587 fogging devices, which are only capable of
fumigating 22,500 hectares a month.

"The new fogging devices could fumigate an area located up to
50 meters away from the device, while the old ones could only
fumigate between two and three meters away," City health agency
head Chalik Masulili told a media briefing.

On Thursday, the West Java administration asked for more
funding for powder to kill the Aedes aegypti larvae.

Health agency chief Fatimah Resmiati said the province only
had 6,000 liters of powder, while it needed at least 100,000
liters.

Cases in the area had increased by 400 percent during the past
two months to 3,050 patients, who were currently being treated in
hospitals across the province. There have been 53 fatalities.
West Java is the second-worst hit province after Jakarta.

In Bali, Gusti Ayu Maryani, 30, died on Thursday morning at
Sanglah General Hospital after being treated for 12 hours at the
facility. In the last six days, 35 dengue patients have been
treated at hospitals.

In Yogyakarta, provincial health office chief Choirul Anwar
warned April would become the peak of the epidemic in the special
province. The disease has claimed four lives there.

In Cirebon, West Java, local authorities deployed 57,000
students to ensure surrounding areas were free of dengue-carrying
mosquito larvae.