will not be announcing every single death

The Indonesian government has announced a dramatic change in the method that it will be reporting on incidences of bird flu in the country. Indonesia which is a country which has suffered more human deaths from the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus than any other country said that they will only announce the numbers of individuals who have died from the disease every six months.

The announcement which came from the Ministry of Health was greeted with surprise by scientists and researchers around the world who commented that it was important for them to know immediately if the virus was becoming more virulent and if more humans were catching the disease.

The Health Minister for Indonesia Ms Siti Fadillah Supari said that they would not be announcing every single death because often media reports of deaths from the bird flu in Indonesia were misunderstood. Media experts that we spoke to at Ukmedix News said that announcing the deaths every six months will mean that less focus is given to the problem and that Indonesia will not be perceived worldwide as a country rife with infected chickens. This could help to boost tourism and any food export businesses. Ms. Siti Fadillah Supari also said that when the identities of the bird flu victims were announced she felt it was unethical and media reports were insensitive and sometimes “hurtful”.

In all over 100 individuals have died from the bird flu virus in Indonesia according to official statistics which are recorded by the World Health Organisation. Worldwide there have been almost 250 deaths in twelve different countries. Indonesia has only recently agreed to start sharing bird influenza samples with the World Health Organisation after complaining that western drug companies would be profiting by making bird flu vaccines which then the poor country of Indonesia would have to buy back at high prices.