|
|
HEALTH-INDONESIA: Mothers Join Bird Flu Awareness Campaign
By Richel Dursin
JAKARTA, Feb 25 (IPS) - Not content with the government’s public awareness
campaign against bird flu, a group of parents in Bekasi regency has taken
the initiative in educating the poor and the marginalised about the deadly
disease.
''The government’s campaign against bird flu does not reach the people at
the grassroots level,'' said Rulie Bambang, head of the Jami’iyyah
Communication Forum, an association of parents of some 8,000 children
studying in 10 prominent Al-Azhar Islamic schools in Bekasi, West Java
province.
Earlier this month, the forum organised a talk show on avian influenza
featuring Lula Kamal, a medical doctor and actress with the Indonesia
National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Influenza
Preparedness (Komnas FBPI). The audience included female members of the
association, school drivers, students and teachers.
''We hope to share with our neighbours the knowledge that we have so that
there would be no more bird flu deaths," said Antari Loemaksono, one of
the parents attending the talk show.
Before the four-hour talk show began at the school in Kemang Pratama, the
audience watched the film titled, ‘Race against the Killer Flu.’ The
film, in English, carried subtitles in the Bahasa Indonesia language.
The talk show addressed basic information about avian influenza. Kamal,
for instance, explained to the audience that the H5NI is a highly
pathogenic strain of the avian influenza virus, which causes disease in
birds, and cats. In rare cases, she added, the virus can also spread to
humans.
She also instructed the audience not to touch sick or dying poultry. If
they do, they should immediately wash their hands with soap and seek
medical help if they develop a fever with flu-like symptoms.
''Chicken and eggs are safe to eat, but should be cooked well," she said,
advising the audience to pass on the message to their maids and cooks.
Kamal also described the clinical symptoms of the disease in birds and in
humans.
After Kamal did her slide presentation, she was bombarded questions.
''Why is bird flu present in Indonesia, but not in other countries?" asked
a student. "Which part of our body is affected by the H5N1 virus?" asked
another. "What is the difference between H5N1 virus and HIV?" one student
wanted to know.
''Can vaccination alone stop the outbreak of the virus among birds?" asked
a housewife. "How do humans get infected with the H5N1 virus?" asked
another woman.
According to the mothers who attended the forum, the government’s current
bird flu public awareness campaign falls short in educating the poor who
usually keep poultry in their homes.
"The government relies too much on television campaigns, when in fact not
all people in the villages have a television set," Rulie argued. "But even
if they do, Indonesian viewers switch to other channels during commercial
breaks."
In September 2006, the Indonesian government launched a four-month bird
flu awareness campaign. Using television and radio spots, flyers and
billboards, the campaign focused on four messages:
- do not touch sick or dying birds, wash hands and utensils with soap
before eating or cooking.
- separate poultry from humans.
- go immediately to a health clinic in case fever with flu-like symptoms.
However, the government campaign is considered ineffective and no other
country has counted more human deaths than Indonesia. The problem is
exacerbated by the refusal of many local governments to carry out mass
culling and the country’s limited resources to compensate farmers.
Across Asia the bird flu virus has been met with the mass slaughter of
millions of birds since it first surfaced late 2003 causing hardship for
those that depend poultry rearing for a livelihood. It has also caused 167
human deaths worldwide.
By inviting mostly mothers and school drivers to the talk show, the forum
hoped that it would be able to help prevent the spread of avian influenza
in the country. The Al-Azhar schools in Bekasi regency and municipality
currently have around 100 drivers who pick up students in the morning and
drop them home in the afternoon.
"Mothers can help disseminate information about bird flu prevention,"
Rulie said. Members of her organisation hold a meeting every Wednesday to
follow up on weekly social service programmes, including efforts to combat
bird flu.
The talk show, according to Rulie, was only the first step in her
association’s stride towards fighting bird flu.
"After the talk show, we will orient garbage collectors and street vendors
about bird flu. They are our first targets because they get in touch with
a lot of people. Besides, most of them live in areas where many people
keep birds and chicken," she said.
Bayu Krisnamurthi, chief executive of Komnas FBPI, a ministry-level
committee that coordinates actions aimed at controlling bird flu,
acknowledged that the government still has more work to do and needs to
reach out to more people in its fight against bird flu.
"The war continues. We will work to improve all of our bird flu control
and pandemic preparedness programmes, including public awareness,"
Krisnamurthi said.
Indonesia reported its first case of H5N1 infection in poultry in August
2003 in Pekalongan, West Java and in Tangerang, Banten province. In July
2005, the first human case was found in Tangerang.
On Feb. 11, a 20-year-old woman and a 9-year-old boy were reported to have
died of bird flu in Garut regency, West Java. In Bekasi alone, 19 people
were declared to have died of bird flu, prompting health authorities to
consider the regency as vulnerable to a bird flu pandemic.
The ministry of health has recorded 83 bird flu cases nationwide. Bird flu
cases have been found in 30 of Indonesia’s 33 provinces, prompting experts
to raise concerns over a possible avian influenza pandemic in the fourth
most populous country in the world.
"More people will die if public awareness about the disease is lacking,"
said Sabaruddin Djamal, head of the Waqaf Al Muhajirien Foundation, which
is in charge of Al-Azhar Islamic Schools of Jakapermai and Kemang Pratama
in Bekasi.
According to health official Nyoman Kandun, the government is having a
hard time convincing people of the dangers of keeping poultry in their
homes. "Our fear is that the H5N1 avian influenza virus could mutate or
obtain new genetic material, allowing it to spread more easily among
humans and potentially spark a global pandemic," he said.
(END/2007)
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
What is RSS?
