Indonesian: avian flu spurs "considerable investment"
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The Indonesian government is reportedly planning to invest substantially in improving its capacity to rapidly respond to epidemics, spurred by the recent cluster of human avian flu deaths in North Sumatra. The move comes with the reintroduction of the 1984 Epidemic Law, aimed at tightening incidence reporting, investigation and isolation measures. The government would establish rapid-response teams in areas considered to be most vulnerable. According to China's Xinhua news agency, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a personal pledge to disburse a "considerable amount of funds" to finance the programme.