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.