SBY tells officials not to cover up bird flu cases

SBY tells officials not to cover up bird flu cases

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has warned local
administrations against presenting him with fabricated "good
news" on bird flu as foreign and national media have continued
running factual reports on the spread of the lethal disease in
the country.

He also said on Monday the government was to launch a bird flu
monitoring system, called "Village Preparedness", which would
involve millions of people at village level.

Under the scheme, at least five personnel, including doctors,
would monitor bird flu cases among both birds and humans in every
village in order to speed up the reporting of any outbreak,
Susilo added.

The President said several regional executive heads had failed
to take measures to eradicate bird flu seriously, despite
instruction from the central government.

"I have asked them to implement what we've instructed. I'd
rather get honest and objective reports on bird flu cases in the
regions than cover-ups for the sake of a good image," he told a
news conference after a meeting with Minister of Health Siti
Fadilah Supari and Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono.

Susilo said covering up bird flu outbreaks to please him would
only result in the situation worsening and more people falling
victim to the virus.

"Such leaders are irresponsible. I am reminding them of this
once more, because I'll check them one by one," he said,
threatening to make public the names of leaders who had not
followed orders if they did not make improvements in the next few
days.

Anton said avian influenza had continued to spread across
Indonesia. Currently, the H5N1 virus has infected areas in 23 of
the 33 provinces.

Seven human deaths from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza
have been confirmed in Indonesia by the World Health Organization
(WHO). Five other people have either recovered from confirmed
bird flu infection or continue to receive medical treatment.

Anton said the government would announce on Dec. 15 the
results of tests on blood and other samples from poultry taken by
veterinary students of four universities. He did not elaborate.

Susilo said the government had been serious in fighting the
deadly virus.

"I say to all Indonesian people -- as every day it is aired by
CNN, BBC and other international and domestic media -- that we
have taken and continue to take serious measures to eradicate
avian flu.

"With cooperation and support from the public, all of the
efforts will be effective. But regional heads also need to be
highly responsible," he said.

The government vowed last week to wage a year-long fight
against the virus, which would include house-to-house checks and
culls.

Susilo said the government had appointed state-run
pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma to produce Tamiflu after
receiving approval from the Swiss drug company Roche Holding AG,
which holds the antiviral drug's patent.

The health minister said on Saturday the government would
produce 220 million Tamiflu tablets.

Susilo said two million tablets would still be imported from
Roche before the start of Indonesia's production in three to five
months. The government has a stockpile now of only 800,000
tablets.

Indonesia has allocated some Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) to
import Tamiflu, the President added.

The government has also appointed another state-run
pharmaceutical firm, Biopharma, to produce avian influenza
vaccines for birds.