Indonesia’s Total Bird Flu Victims Still Highest
Thursday, 14 December, 2006 | 09:01 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The number of deaths of bird flu patient in Indonesia is still the highest—after Vietnam—in the Southeast Asia region since 2005.

Up until mid December, the number of bird flu patients who have died totaled 57.

“The number is 70 percent of the total of 74 people who have suffered from the illness,” I Nyoman Kandun, Director General of Contagious Diseases Control and Environment Healthiness, told Tempo yesterday (13/12).

According to Nyoman, this year the number of people suffering from bird flu increased compared to last year.

In 2005, out of 17 cases, 11 sufferers died.

“This means the increase is triple,” he said.

Based on Health Department data, bird flu cases have occurred in nine provinces.

The highest number of death was in West Java, where out of 25 cases, 20 people died.

Jakarta listed 18 cases from which 16 died, while in Banten, there were nine cases from which eight people died.

Currently the government has not yet fully prepared its anticipatory measures to bird flu, at the beginning of the rain season.

“During the rain season, cases of regular flu in fact increase,” said Nyoman.

The Health Department is still carrying out research to develop vaccine antidote to the H5N1 bird flu virus.

A number of pharmaceutical companies have claimed to manage to develop the vaccine.

Unfortunately, there is not yet any vaccine that is sold commercially.

For next year, the government has set a budget of Rp300 billion to be wholly used to prevent the spread of bird flu.

One of the efforts is to provide information on this disease to those living in remote areas.

Pramono