JakartaPost-Aug 7
Experts warned of the increasing risk of contagious disease outbreaks and other health problems in Indonesia as the El Niño climate phenomenon emerges in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years. El Niño, marked by an increase in surface water temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, is linked to extreme weather conditions from tropical cyclones and heavy rainfall to severe droughts. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) forecasts that the phenomenon will peak from this month until September in Indonesia, with most regions expected to face a longer and more severe dry season compared to the previous three years. The BMKG has said that the country should prepare for potential droughts, hot spots and wildfires due to hotter weather and lower precipitation. Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman said El Niño might lead to an increased risk of vector-borne diseases, including dengue fever and malaria. “Warmer temperatures facilitate the increase in hatching and reproduction rates of mosquitoes, raising the risk for mosquito-borne diseases,” Dicky said on Friday. The Health Ministry has issued a circular to mitigate the increasing risk of dengue fever during El Niño, spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said. The circular ordered regional administrations to educate the public on the increasing risk of dengue outbreaks and deploy Jumantik, or volunteer mosquito monitors tasked with carrying out door-to-door control measures to curb the number of mosquito larvae. Last year, the ministry reported 143,000 cases of dengue fever, or around 52 cases for every 100,000 people, with West Java, Central Java, Bali and East Java being the largest contributors to the nationwide figure. The ministry also recorded 1,236 dengue deaths, mostly among children aged below 14 years. This year, at least 35,694 dengue cases and 270 deaths were reported nationwide by May. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/08/08/experts-warn-of-contagions-health-fears-as-el-nio-returns.html.
