Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin. (Photo: Indonesia's Ministry of Health) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Ministry of Health has allocated 16 billion IDR (around 1.03 million USD) for trials involving the use of mosquitos with Wolbachia bacterium to check dengue spread in five Indonesian cities.
Speaking at an online press conference on November 28 after a meeting of the Cabinet, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government has spent 16 billion IDR in five cities, including Semarang, West Jakarta, Bandung, Kupang and Bontang. In addition, the administration of each city targeted by the trials is spending around 500 million IDR on the trials.
Sadikin said that the areas have been selected for the trial run on account of their relatively high dengue case rates, which are above the global average of 10 per 100,000 population.
He said that before implementing the method, the ministry disseminated information to the community through advocacy with local community leaders. The community was also involved in preparing the eggs of mosquitos with Wolbachia./.
