Shocking report on bird flu

The comment made by a special UN team sent to help Indonesia fight bird flu warning that the country had not done enough to contain the virus (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 8) really shocked me.

Meanwhile, a World Bank report, obtained by Reuters said a previous study on flu pandemics had suggested that any new pandemics could cause between 100,000 and 200,000 human deaths in United States alone, which it said translated into economic losses for the country of between US$100 billion and $200 billion (Post, Nov. 8, page 12).

My questions regarding the above problem are: Why is Indonesia not taking the bird flu issue seriously? Is it because we lack the medical expertise or researchers who are interested in this pandemic? Are the doctors in this country too busy treating common diseases? Has the Ministry of Health allocated a large enough budget for research into the bird flu virus.

I wonder what would happen to Indonesia if the virus claimed as many victims as described above. considering the fact that Indonesia is a poor country.

ODO FADLOELI, Bandung