Indonesia: Update

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Bekasi

Increasing numbers of both dengue and bird flu patients have forced the Bekasi Municipal Administration to declare an extraordinary occurrence of the diseases in the region.

Bekasi Mayor Akhmad Zurfaih said to prevent the diseases from further spreading and to decrease the mortality rate, the administration would allocate Rp 270 million (about US$30,000) for dengue and Rp 26 million for bird flu from its budget.

"These diseases have reached alarming levels, and there are indications that the infection rate is increasing. An extraordinary occurrence state is needed to anticipate the worst possibilities," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Zurfaid said that as many as 924 cases of dengue occurred in Bekasi betwee January and March this year, and eight people had died. Meanwhile there had been 10 cases of avian influenza in the last three months, with three deaths.

Zurfaih ordered all related institutions to place extra focus on the prevention of the diseases and on death minimization.

"With this status, there should be no increase in occurrences and there should be no more deaths (from the two diseases)," he said.

Oni Sri Rahayu has been at the Bekasi General Hospital since Sunday for dengue. Her father Herdi, a becak driver, was forced to apply for a certificate of lack of means from his neighborhood chief to get the 10-year-old girl into hospital.