Indonesia to declare H5N1 Disaster

Bird Flu Hits Indonesia. Again.

CNN WEbsite: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/01/31/indonesia.birdflu.ap/index.html

After insisting that the Avian flu was under control for the longest time, the Indonesian authorities have now decided to admit that they have once again failed to control the spread of the H5N1 virus.

Many people would feel that this was inevitable as Indonesia is still an impoverished country and do not have the necessary infrastructure to tackle this deadly disease. However I believe that both farmers and the Government have to take the blame for this recent “turn” of events.

Since 2003, the world has been put on high alert against the threats of a deadly virus called the Avian flu. It is indeed sad to see that Indonesia, after 3 years, are still unprepared to deal with virus that has claimed the lives of many around the world. It is known that Indonesia has had to tackle other domestic problems and kudos to the Government for being able to pay off all their debt to the IMF recently. As much as the Government is making progress, I believe that it is insufficient as the most important thing on the agenda has yet to be settled. Indonesia being one of the world’s largest countries in terms of population size will become one big virus itself if they do not contain the spread of diseases such as the H5N1 virus. We saw how potentially deadly the spread of such diseases can be in the form of SARS from the China-Hong Kong region in 2002 and the world does not need another reminder before we start taking action.