• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Roundup: Indonesia Wages Tougher War on Bird Flu As Human Infections Up to 12 By Xia Lin

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 09:00 CST

Roundup: Indonesia wages tougher war on bird flu as human infections up to 12

by Xia Lin

JAKARTA, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Five months after bird flu's outbreak in Indonesia, the government finally overcame the disorder brought by the breaking disaster and stumbled into full swing to prevent the world's largest Muslim country from being victimized by the epidemic.

Intensive operation started to be carried out in medical, culling and international co-operation fields in the archipelago, while seven out of 12 infected people died, a toll commonly recognized by local laboratory and the World Heath Organization's (WHO) laboratory in Hong Kong.

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said here on Saturday that her ministry had obtained special rights from pharmaceutical giant Roche to produce Tamiflu, the anti-viral medicine recommended for treatment of avian influenza."We will need three to five months to prepare production," she said, adding that the government now still had a sufficient supply of Tamiflu, some 800 tablets, donated by countries like Australia, Japan and Singapore.

Meanwhile, speed and decisiveness were seen on Nov. 24 when the Aceh government killed hundreds of birds - sick or healthy - in three districts, upon confirmation that avian influenza had entered the tsunami-ravaged province.

The government must help its people dodge a new disaster so as not to aggravate their hardship induced by the Dec. 26 tsunami, which claimed more than 200,000 lives and destroyed 90 percent of the public infrastructure, according to local officials.

Back to July when the epidemic first broke out in the archipelago, the government was criticized by the WHO for slow reaction and indecisiveness to impose total cull around the infected areas.

Aceh's agility could be contributed to the lesson that the Indonesians were taught about the danger of the disease, as could be seen from the death of seven compatriots so far, local officials added.

As to international co-operation, the government has reached consensus with WHO on common tests of suspected patients' blood samples and simultaneous declaration of results, so as not to confuse the public about the toll.

Additionally, the government had held talks with the countries supplying raw materials for the production of Tamiflu, including China, India and South Korea, and was waiting for their confirmation on their ability to meet Indonesia's need.

Although the government refused world financial institutions' offer of loans to fight against avian influenza, it still remained open on personnel and technology collaboration with other countries in order to strive for better performance.

After all, it is the nature of any epidemic to transgress nation borders. In this sense, international co-operation should be the crucial step to contain the evil.

In Southeast Asia, avian influenza has claimed the lives of more than 60 out of 120-strong infected persons since its outbreak in 2003.

Any country who wants to stay clear of the disease has no choice but to beef up efforts domestically, as well as internationally.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

More News in this Category