Jakarta government to fumigate, not educate
Jakarta government to fumigate, not educate
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The death toll from dengue fever has reached 255 while 13,765
others have been hospitalized for the disease since early this
year, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday, an increase of
more than 10 deaths since 241 deaths were reported by the office
on Tuesday.
The worst affected provinces include Jakarta, West Java,
Central and East Java, East and West Nusa Tenggara, Yogyakarta
and Bali, Minister Ahmad Suyudi said.
The government "is preparing Rp 150 billion (US$17.86
million)" in emergency funds, he said, as quoted by detik.com.
while provinces are fumbling with available resources.
In the capital, instead of allotting funding for an urgent
campaign to curb the number of dengue cases in the capital, the
Jakarta administration plans to import 42 mobile fogging devices
to be distributed to each district.
City spokesman Muhayat said on Wednesday that the new devices
were expected to be purchased later this year.
Experts on communicable diseases had repeatedly warned that
fumigation alone would not prevent the dengue fever from
spreading as it only kills the mosquitoes and not the larvae.
They have pointed out that the most effective way to prevent
the fatal disease is to clean, bury and cover all things filled
with standing water that could serve as a place for mosquitoes to
breed.
But West Jakarta health office head of communicable diseases,
Ariani Murti, admitted that such preventive measures were still
conducted in a limited capacity due to the lack of funds.
"We've trained and deployed a number of jumantik officers (a
task force to educate the public on the eradication of mosquito
larvae) in 10 high-risk districts which cover a total of 800
community units (RW). However, not all of them have been reached
due to lack of funds."
Ariani mentioned some of the high-risk subdistricts in West
Jakarta that should have been visited by the jumantik officers
including Palmerah, Kebon Jeruk, Grogol Petamburan and Jelambar
subdistricts. But residents told the Post they had not seen such
officers.
It has been one week since Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso informed
officers from 267 subdistricts that the administration would
deploy around 800 jumantik officers to educate the public on
preventing the breeding of mosquitoes that carry dengue.
Muhayat said earlier that the administration had allocated a
total of Rp 7.2 billion (US$857,142) for 42 subdistricts to be
used for operational costs to curb dengue fever. The
administration also disbursed Rp 500 million for the health
agency and Rp 400 million for municipal health offices.
As of Wednesday, data from the health agency revealed that
there were 4,840 cases of dengue fever and 50 patients had died.
The number increased significantly from 4,252 patients on
Tuesday, with the number of deaths at 47.
In the neighboring Banten province, 132 cases of dengue fever
have been reported since January, with one fatality.
Bandung, West Java, recorded 2,655 dengue cases since January,
with the death toll reaching 51. The provincial health office
head Yudi Prayudha had ordered fumigation in high-risk districts.
Nganjuk Health Agency in East Java reported 188 people with
dengue, 11 of whom have died.
In East Kalimantan, 254 dengue cases have been reported since
January, seven of whom have died.
In Palu, Central Sulawesi, at least 15 have been hospitalized
since mid January, one of whom has died. To prevent dengue from
spreading, the Palu health agency had ordered residents to clean
places where mosquitoes are likely to breed.
The Maluku health agency has distributed abate powder (to kill
mosquito larvae) and conducted fumigation of high-risk areas.