City needs new ways to curb dengue: Governor

Mustaqim Adamrah , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 04/15/2008 11:40 AM

Overwhelmed by the dengue fever outbreak, Governor Fauzi Bowo said Monday the city administration needed to review attempts aimed at preventing the spread of the disease in the capital.

He said the deployment of a number of examiners -- popularly known as jumantik -- to houses was ineffective, compared to the administration's program of mosquito larva eradication.

"I want an evaluation on whether the obsolete method of house examination is still effective," he said at City Hall.

"Without strict supervision, a jumantik may visit and examine only 10 houses or less."

According to the administration, an examiner can check dozens of houses each day.

In the wake of the dengue fever outbreak in 2004, the administration assembled a task force consisting of thousands of examiners.

Citizens are recruited to be examiners and are deployed to houses across the capital to check all containers or places -- such as bath tank, buckets, used cans and tires, as well as refrigerators -- that can hold water and are, therefore, potential breeding places for the Aedes aegypti, the dengue fever vector.

The examiners also provide information for Jakartans on dengue fever prevention.

In 2004, the administration also launched its mosquito larva eradication program.

Through the program, the administration urges Jakartans to voluntarily clean up their houses and surroundings. The program is held simultaneously on Fridays for 30 minutes.

However, Fauzi said the program would only be a waste if Jakartans did not share the same vision.

"It has been believed for years that the mosquito larva eradication program is the finest dengue fever prevention method in the world," he said.

"But sometimes, the mosquito larva eradication program in Jakarta is often more about showing off than preventing dengue fever."

In order to make future prevention methods more effective, the city health agency needs to involve more Jakartans and the authorities, said Fauzi.

The implementation of both programs has faced obstacles in communities due to poor enforcement, critics have said.

As a result, dengue fever cases remain high in the capital, with South Jakarta and East Jakarta marked as the red zones.

According to the city health agency's latest data, the number of dengue cases in the capital reached 3,047 in January, 2,620 in February, 2,797 in March and 166 as of April 4.

The agency's data shows there were 8,630 dengue fever patients in total in Jakarta as of April 4, eight of whom died.

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