Outbreak Hits Compassion International's Indonesian Ministry
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
March 25, 2004
(AgapePress) - A dengue fever outbreak in Indonesia is affecting the operations of a Christian child development ministry. Since January, more than 35,000 people in Indonesia have fallen ill from the fever, and more than 450 deaths have resulted.The mosquito-borne sickness causes fever, severe headaches, rashes, and eye, joint, and muscle pain. Some victims also experience blood-clotting problems, in which cases the illness is known as dengue hemorrhagic fever. The Indonesian Health Ministry reports that most of the cases of dengue fever have been found in Jakarta, but the highest casualty rate has been recorded in central Java.
Rebecca Harcharik, child development specialist for Compassion International, says the outbreak of the disease has seriously affected the ministry's operations in the region. "In Indonesia itself," she says, "from the Compassion projects, we've had 60 children infected, and two have died."
Around 20 of the infected children, a third, are hospitalized and receiving treatment. None of those infected have been able to attend Compassion's programs, Harcharik says, "so most of the ways in which [the ministry] has been affected has been attendance."
Harcharik notes that a disease of this kind would not have such a significant impact in the developed world. However, "in developing countries, preventive health measures are hard to have," she says.
"Most of it is education," the specialist explains, "and getting the information out can be difficult. And many times it's not as easy to receive the treatment that you need or attention at hospitals. That's more of a luxury for people in developing countries such as Indonesia."
But Harcharik says health officials have been working to get information to the public about how to avoid exposure to and spread of dengue fever. "And also, they've been educating the parents," she says, "on how they can take preventive measures at home, so that the children will not be exposed to the mosquitoes as easily."
Compassion International's director of country operations, Handoyo Petrus Nawawi, says although the peak of the outbreak appears to have passed, this is a major health-related crisis for Indonesia, with a significantly higher death rate than in the past.
Compassion ministry partners currently assist more than 31,600 children in Indonesia. "We are asking Christians around the globe to join us in prayer that the effects of this epidemic will be minimized, not only for our children, but for all the people of Indonesia," Nawawi says.
