The Health Ministry called on the Bali administration to intensify dengue prevention programs as cases of the disease have increased significantly, infecting 170 out of every 100,000 people in the province.
The Health Ministry's Dr. Cecilia Widyaningsih said the high number earned Bali the dubious honor of being the second-worst hit region, losing out only to Jakarta.
"Bali must focus on a campaign of behavioral changes through an effective communication strategy," Widyaningsih said at a coordination meeting with Bali Health Agency officials on Wednesday.
Bali Health Agency head Dr. I Nyoman Sutedja admitted that almost all villages in Bali had been categorized as endemic areas in the last three years. As of April this year, 1,227 people have contracted dengue fever and 12 have died of the disease.
The number of dengue patients is expected to peak in May. In 2008 and 2009, Bali saw 6,000 dengue cases.
The ministry said it planned to provide the administration with rapid diagnostic equipment to accurately detect the dangerous dengue virus. The ministry also provided 3 tons of insecticide. "We are going to fumigate large areas across Bali," Sutedja said.
Some traditional villages (banjar) have implemented effective dengue prevention programs including larva and mosquito control and improving rural sanitation.
A.A. Eka Putra, the head of Guwang village in Sukawati, Gianyar regency, shared his experience at the meeting. Guwang village is a relative success story in the prevention and elimination of dengue cases.
"We called on all residents to build a small pond and breed fish. The fish eat the mosquito larva," Putra said.
He added that each family had to keep clean their houses and surrounding areas, potted plants were to be kept free of stagnant water, and that the village also improved sanitation in the village in an effort to stop the larva life cycle.
Putra said that mothers were also asked to clean water containers, including those used for daily prayers. "Most of us use ceramic or glass jars to store holy water for daily prayers. The water containers are open, making them the perfect place for mosquito larva," he said.
Putra added that the village involved the entire community in the prevention program. "We have only five larva and mosquito control specialists serving 1,235 families. It was impossible to ask them to perform their work well, so all the villagers became responsible for making the village clean and healthy."
The ministry's said that every year, there were 160,000 reported cases of dengue fever in Indonesia, 15 to 20 percent of the annual 925,000 cases worldwide.
Since 2004, dengue fever has affected 382 regencies and municipalities in Indonesia. In 2008, 1,393 people died of dengue fever nationwide.
"We are working hard to decrease the number of dengue cases to 51 per 100,000 people by 2014," Widyaningsih said.
