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Indonesia
says targets $100 mln for bird flu fight By Alireza Ronaghi The Star, 1 Sept 2006 |
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JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia hopes to secure about $100 million to fight bird flu next year, the vice president said on Friday, after criticism the country is not doing enough to control the disease. Indonesia has the world's highest death toll from bird flu and scientists and even the World Bank have called on the government to step up the fight to control a disease that is endemic in almost all provinces. Experts said public ignorance, along with official ineptitude and lack of money, are hampering efforts to stamp out the disease in the densely populated country of 220 million people. "I asked for certainty from the World Bank and they asked for certainty from our budget. So, both of us ascertained to gather at least $100 million for next year," Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Friday. It was not immediately clear whether this meant the government's financial commitment in the budget to fight the H5N1 bird flu virus would be raised. The World Bank has been urging Jakarta to increase its budget after it earmarked $46.5 million to fight bird flu in 2007, down from $57.37 million slated for this year. According to government data, together with donor contributions, Indonesia plans to spend about $93 million this year in fighting bird flu. |
Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie said last month Indonesia had not received "a single cent" pledged by international donors at a global bird flu conference in Beijing in January. The donors promised $1.9 billion for the global fight and the World Health Organization has also criticized some governments for their failure to pay up. On Thursday, a leading bird flu expert urged Indonesia to do more animal surveillance to curb the H5N1 virus, which has killed 46 people so far in the country. Most of the deaths have occurred this year. Last week, the World Bank urged Indonesia to increase its budget for the bird flu programme, saying the virus was a severe threat to the country's economy and the health of its people. CAMPAIGN The government launched a nationwide campaign on Friday to improve public awareness about the disease, saying the threat would likely increase during the upcoming wet season. "Like in any other tropical country, |
influenza symptoms usually increase during the rainy season in Indonesia," said Bayu Krisnamurthi, head of the National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness. "The bird flu virus has similar characteristics to the common influenza virus, so we want the people to be aware of how to deal with it," he said at a ceremony to launch the programme. Indonesia's rainy season usually starts in October. Gianfranco Rotigliano, representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Indonesia, said educating the public would not be easy in the vast country, which comprises thousands of islands, myriad religions and hundreds of local languages. "The challenge is huge, but I think we will be up to the task," Rotigliano said. Although bird flu remains essentially an animal disease, experts fear it could mutate into a form that can pass easily among humans, possibly killing millions. New fears that the virus had mutated arose this month after a series of confirmed or suspected cases in people in a remote area of West Java, where bird flu is rife in poultry. The World Health Organisation said there has been no evidence that human-to-human transmission had occurred in the area. |
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