Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) disease’s control in various regions in the last ten years has not been done optimally. This is caused by dengue surveillance report which stopped at the district level only. The policy was implemented since the inception of Regional Autonomy.
Tropical disease researcher from Faculty of Medicine UGM, Prof. Dr. dr. Sutaryo, Sp.A (K), said the number of DHF patients in different regions increased from year to year even though there were no reports from related office. "I am worried that before the election, dengue is politicized to the incumbent’s good name. There have been extraordinary occurrences, but they are not reported," he said to reporters at the Fortakgama room, Wednesday (7/4). According to Sutaryo, the data from the region are needed for control and for the DHF patient’s reduction programs, also for the reduction of DHF mortality rate to less than one percent. He added that “regional autonomy†led the district/city to feel that there is no need to report dengue cases to the provincial or central level.
Budget problems also increase the complexity of reducing the dengue cases in the region. As dengue is an endemic disease which can always be found throughout the year, especially during the transition months of December until March. Meanwhile, government budgets are very difficult to disburse in that period. "Between December and January it is quite difficult to disburse the funds. In December the budget is running out while in January the budget has not been disbursed yet," he explained.
Furthermore, the handling of the DHF is also increasingly hampered by the fact that there has been no discovery of drugs and vaccines to reduce the mortality rate. Indonesia itself is part of a third of world population living in tropical and subtropical countries that are at risk of getting affected and contracted by dengue fever.
Chairman of Dr. Sardjito Hospital’s DHF Handling Task Force, dr. Ida Safitri,Sp.A., added that there are still misperceptions among the public and even medical personnel, that a decrease in thrombosis rate is the determinant of the degree of severity of DHF. In fact, the severity is determined by the plasma liquid permeation from blood vessels into the cavity of the body that causes a shock. Responding to the drugs on the market that contain Angkak, extracts of red guava, date palm juice, etc., according to Ida, they have not been scientifically proven yet to be able to increase the thrombosis rate.