Policemen suffer respiratory ailments

SURABAYA: The incidence of acute respiratory infection among police officers in East Java increases 5 percent each year, a police official said on Tuesday.

East Java traffic police director Sr. Comr. Adjar Triadi revealed the alarming trend on Thursday after receiving 3,000 face masks from PT Kalbe Farma.

Last year, from the 35,397 policemen in the province, 5,628 of them had respiratory problems. Of that number, 2,335 of them have acute respiratory infections.

"The increasing number of policemen suffering from acute respiratory infections is due to the rapid increase in the number of motorized vehicles, at 15 percent per year," Adjar said.

In order to protect police officers from infection, he said the police would transfer traffic police officers to administrative work after working on the street for a year. -- JP