No officers yet in high-risk areas

Abdul Khalik and Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The death toll and number of people infected by dengue fever continue to rise in Jakarta despite all efforts launched by the city administration to curb the outbreak.

Jakarta Health Agency spokeswomen Evi Zelvino said on Monday that there were 4,486 cases of dengue this year and 47 had died. The number increased dramatically from 3,150 patients on Saturday, with the number of deaths at 38, an increase of 45 percent in the number of cases and 24 percent in deaths over the weekend.

At city-run Tangerang General Hospital 32 patients had been admitted since Saturday. So far, 123 patients have been admitted with the virus at the hospital and three have died. The hospital has had to open a special new room to accommodate the dengue patients.

Despite those facts, the Jakarta administration has apparently failed to keep its promise to assign a special task force to monitor the Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae at the community unit level in high-risk subdistricts.

No officers had made door-to-door calls on residents at Community Unit 14 in Grogol Utara subdistrict, Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, although the area is one of 10 high-risk areas.

"I know nothing about the program and no instructions have been given to me. What I know is that our neighborhood should have been fumigated on Saturday but until now, no officers have come here," said the community unit head Aji Syamsudin.

Governor Sutiyoso had informed officers from 267 subdistricts last Thursday that the administration would deploy around 800 jumantik officers, (a task force to educate the public on the eradication of mosquito larvae) to curb the rapidly spreading disease.

The absence of jumantik was also felt at Community Unit 9 in Palmerah subdistrict, West Jakarta, which is also a high-risk area.

"What? Jumantik? There's no such officer in our community unit. However, we have some volunteers who are helping us to spread information on dengue. Nine residents here have been infected since last month," said the community unit head, Sutrisno.

Many residents in Kebon Kacang, Central Jakarta, and Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, were also unaware of jumantik.

"So far, we have mobilized the Family Welfare Movement (PKK) members to make residents aware of dengue fever," said Ismail Riyawan, the Community Unit 9 secretary of Kebon Kacang subdistrict.

Sutiyoso said earlier that all hospitals must admit dengue patients and provide free treatment, but most of them only grant free treatment for the poor.

Tarakan Hospital deputy director of service Basuki said on Saturday that the hospital gave free treatment to dengue patients as long as they brought a letter stating that they could not afford treatment from their community or neighborhood unit head and a letter from the community health center.

"The letters are needed for the health agency. If we don't have the letters as proof (for the provision of free treatment), the agency will think we're fiddling with the books," Basuki said.

At Budhi Asih Hospital in East Jakarta, Budiarto, the head of service said free treatment would only be available for those bringing a letter from the community or neighborhood unit head.

The administration dropped three million fliers over the capital on Monday and Tuesday from three helicopters from the Jakarta Police and the Air Force.

City spokesman Muhayat said the effort was needed as the media campaign was not enough. The fliers contain information on the eradication of mosquito larvae to prevent dengue fever.