Local hospitals struggle to prepare for bird flu
Local hospitals struggle to prepare for bird flu
Tomi Soetjipto and Ade Rina, Reuters/Jakarta
From a shortage of anti-viral drugs to ventilators, Indonesian
hospitals designated by the government to treat bird flu patients
are struggling to get ready for a possible pandemic.
Indonesia has appointed 44 hospitals across the world's fourth
most populous country to take care of bird flu patients, with
that number expected to more than double to 100.
But years of economic crisis have taken their toll on the
health system, leaving hospitals short of funds and resources,
let alone being ready for a disease that could infect countless
numbers in the impoverished country of 220 million people.
Halid Saleh, head of team of doctors to treat bird flu
patients at the Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital in the eastern city
of Makassar, said they had prepared two isolation rooms with two
beds each to handle patients.
But there were no ventilators, monitors or emergency support
equipment for the rooms because they were needed for intensive
care units, he said.
"Officials from the Health Ministry paid us a visit last
month. We have made list on what we needed. But so far, nothing
has been sent yet," said Saleh.
However, some stocks of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu had
arrived a few days ago, he added.
Indonesia has had seven confirmed deaths from the H5N1 strain
of bird flu and five cases where patients lived.
Bird flu has killed 68 people in Asia since late 2003. There
are fears it could mutate into a form that could pass from person
to person, sparking a global pandemic that could kill millions.
Some state hospitals in Indonesia are not well equipped to
handle any disease outbreak. Last year hospitals in Jakarta were
overwhelmed with patients during a surge in dengue fever cases.
And few Indonesians have private health insurance that would
enable to seek better treatment at private hospitals.
The Zainal Abidin public hospital in Banda Aceh was badly
damaged by the Dec. 26 tsunami that smashed into Aceh province.
It has since become operational and is now preparing for
another potential disaster.
Rus Munandar, director at the hospital, said they have
prepared one isolation room for nine patients.
"We have prepared wards, respirators, ready-to-use equipment
and Tamiflu and other medication. We have prepared specialists,
including four lung doctors," he said.
"We just hope the number (of patients) will not reach the
numbers in Jakarta."
Most of the confirmed and suspected cases of bird flu patients
in Indonesia have been in or around Jakarta.
But the virus has been detected among poultry in two-thirds of
Indonesia's 33 provinces.
Despite the problems, Farid Husain, the director-general for
medical services at the Health Ministry, said most designated
hospitals were ready to face a bird flu pandemic.
"We are ready since the government has declared this an
extraordinary event, ready in the physical sense and in human
resources," Husain told Reuters.
He said the government aimed to furnish all designated
hospitals with the necessary equipment by the end of December.
Indonesia has also said it would begin making the anti-viral
drug Tamiflu in three to five months.
The country currently has 800,000 tablets of Tamiflu, or
enough for 80,000 people. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has
said he wanted to be able to cover 11 percent of the population.
Despite the fears of a pandemic and the possible risk to
themselves, hospital officials vowed to stay on the job.
"We don't have orders to flee if there is an outbreak," said
lung doctor Winaryani, at the Soetomo hospital in Indonesia's
second largest city, Surabaya.
"Where is our conscience as doctors if we did such a thing."