No funds left for dengue
No funds left for dengue
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Several days have passed since the dengue fever outbreak was
declared an extraordinary occurrence, but the government still
has failed to secure emergency funds to help local governments
fight the disease, which has now claimed 188 lives.
Minister of Health Ahmad Sujudi said on Thursday the ministry
had already spent its entire emergency budget of Rp 6 billion
(US$705,882) on the purchase of insecticides, which had been
distributed to local governments.
Sujudi said the ministry no longer had funds to tackle the
outbreak and would appeal for more money.
"Currently, we are proposing Rp 150 billion ($17.85 million)
in emergency funds. However, if possible, we will ask for double
that amount because we also need money to handle other things,
including natural disasters," Sujudi said after a limited
ministerial meeting led by Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Jusuf Kalla here.
The government officially declared on Monday the outbreak an
extraordinary occurrence, meaning extra measures were needed to
contain the disease.
The death toll and the number of infected people have
continued to rise since the announcement on Monday.
As of Thursday, 9,365 people had been infected with dengue
fever across the country. The health ministry expects the number
of cases and the death toll to increase in the coming weeks.
Sujudi acknowledged the ministry had failed to educate the
public on how to prevent dengue fever, resulting in a repeat of
the five-year cycle of the disease.
"Unfortunately, our efforts to disseminate information on
dengue fever were not intensive enough to eradicate this disease.
People also tend to forget the steps we taught them, such as 3M,"
the minister said.
3M stands for "Menguras", "Menutup" and "Mengubur",
in reference to three actions that can prevent the aedes aegypti
mosquito, which carries the dengue virus, from breeding.
These three actions are respectively draining open tanks,
covering bathing water and burying used cans.
However, Kalla said now was not the time to cast blame for the
current outbreak. He said the government and the public had to
work together to tackle the disease.
Therefore, he said the government set a Feb. 23 deadline for
the start of a nationwide cleanup campaign. That day coincides
with the Islamic New Year holiday.
"We will declare war on mosquitoes, which is the only way to
prevent the disease from spreading," Kalla said.
He said the government needed the help of the public to make
the campaign a success.
In Cirebon, West Java, the death toll from dengue fever
reached 13 as of Thursday. However, the head of the local Animal
Related Disease Eradication Office, Mahbub, said the death toll
had been steadily decreasing over the past few weeks.
In the East Nusa Tenggara capital of Kupang, 213 more people
were admitted to Prof. Dr. WZ Yohanis General Hospital with
dengue fever.
The disease first began spreading in the province four months
ago and has infected 1,000 people, killing 11. Most of those
infected have been children under the age of five.