The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 04/30/2009 7:43 PM  |  National
The Office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare is bracing against the imminent danger of a swine flu pandemic by stocking as many as 3 million dosages of antiviral drugs.

"The office along with the Health Ministry had stocked three million dosages of oseltamivir antiviral drugs, enough for around 300,000 people," Amin Soebandrio from the State Ministry for Research and Technology said on Thursday.

He said that the amount of drugs should be enough for this stage but the Office would try to secure more stocks should the pandemic get out of hand.

"If the outbreak gets out of hand, we would need more as there are around 230 million people in Indonesia ," he said.

The drugs are being distributed to hospitals and healthcare centers by the Health Ministry.

Amin said that oseltamivir was not the proper swine flu drug as it was meant for avian flu, but it would have to hold for now.

"There is still no vaccine for the swine flu. Normally, it takes six to eight weeks to develop the vaccine," he said.

Prof. Dr. Menaldi Rasmin from the University of Indonesia 's School of Medicine , said that the extent of the virus remains unclear.

"We still don't know for sure how deadly it is and it is not true that the virus can't live in tropical zone," he said.

Bayu Krisna Murthi, chairman of the Indonesian Avian Flu Committee, said that safety measurements are well prepared to prevent the virus from infecting the population but it could not succeed without public participation.  

"Even though we're experienced in handling the avian flu, but we also need public participatory surveillance to help us. So, please report to us if somebody in your neighborhood is experiencing the symptoms," he said.

"Residents should first stay calm, stay informed and understand, be alert, and then quickly respond if there are possible cases of swine flu. Washing your hands with soap, covering your nose and mouth while sneezing, and wearing a mask if you're having flu are the things you can do to prevent outbreak," he added.

The office had set up a hotline for information and reports on the flu at komunikasi.fpbi@gmail.com and 081280000358. (fmb)