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.