INDONESIA: Climate change brings new disease threats
Pastor Dale Morgan
*INDONESIA: Climate change brings new disease threats*
15 May 2008 13:08:46 GMT
Source: IRIN
JAKARTA, 15 May 2008 (IRIN) - The rapid change in the world's climate is
putting Indonesia at greater risk of infectious diseases, according to
health specialists.
The World Health Organization's (WHO) latest report stated that climate
change would bring severe risks to developing countries such as
Indonesia and have negative implications for achieving the
health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and for health equity.
According to the country's Health Ministry, because of lack of funds,
key sectors such as water and sanitation would not meet the goals by 2015.
The WHO report states that infections caused by pathogens transmitted by
insect vectors are strongly affected by climatic conditions such as
temperature, rainfall and humidity.
These diseases, according to the WHO report, include some of the
significant killers, including malaria, dengue fever and other
infections carried by insect vectors. The latest data from the Health
Ministry for 2007 show 700 deaths from malaria and 1,570 from dengue
fever, but many more go unrecorded. The incidence of diarrhoea, which if
untreated can kill, is also expected to increase, transmitted mainly
through contaminated water, the WHO report stated.
The government acknowledges the dangers. "Climate change does, indeed,
increase the health threat to Indonesia because the warmer environment
encourages vectors of water-borne diseases such as dengue fever and
malaria," the spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, Lily Sulistyowati,
told IRIN.
"Malaria, for example, is a specific disease for tropical countries such
as Indonesia that has been affected by climate change because it has
shortened the birth cycle of mosquitoes," she said, which increases
exponentially the number of mosquitoes.
More than two-thirds of the 576 districts in Indonesia have been
classified as malaria endemic areas, with more than 100 million people,
out of a population of about 230 million, at risk, according to the
Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari.
"Warmer weather caused by climate change puts people who live at higher
altitudes in greater risk of malaria and dengue fever," Sulistyowati
told IRIN, although she had no specific numbers of how many more people
would be at risk.
Flood risk
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned late last year that the
impact of global warming was already evident in Indonesia and would
likely worsen.
"Indonesia could suffer from too much rain, as climate change increases
rainfall at wet times of the year, leading to a higher incidence of
floods," WWF stated, adding that it would trigger greater numbers of
malaria and dengue fever cases. In addition, severe heat waves and
prolonged droughts, combined with flooding, would lead to increased
injury, illness and death and an increase in other infectious diseases
because of poor nutrition due to food production disruptions, WWF predicted.
WHO, in its report, stated that climate change could no longer be
considered simply an environmental or a developmental issue. It would
affect the health and well-being of all populations, with effects
escalating into the foreseeable future. A greater understanding of the
health implications of climate change – and related development choices
– could lead to improved policies and more active public engagement.
"There are always things to worry about with a tropical country like
Indonesia, and as such the government has the obligation to take more
precautions dealing with climate change," WHO's medical officer, Steven
Beorge, told IRIN.
"We are aware of the situation, but not in a state of paranoia,"
Sulistyowati told IRIN. "We are trying our best to socialise this issue
to Indonesian people, to raise awareness," she said, adding that
preventive measures were most appropriate because the country's budget
may not stretch to curative measures.
"We can only afford to prevent these emerging diseases caused by the
climate change," she said, suggesting that people be aware and take
action to prevent diseases such as dengue fever and malaria by removing
standing water that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.