AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Veterinarians Association has proposed a new bill that would set up an integrated system involving the government and the public to curb the spread of animal-borne diseases such as bird flu.
The draft bill obliges citizens to report any animal-related illnesses in their area and pet owners to ensure their animals have regular health checks.
It would also require the government to set a list of actions to be taken in the case of a pandemic.
Olan Sebastian, the head of the team preparing the bill, said the battle against bird flu had inspired the association to propose the bill.
"We are struggling to curb the disease because we don't have a national system to deal with this sort of thing. Our weak veterinary system also makes us vulnerable to animal-to-human diseases like bird flu," he said.
Indonesia only has one animal husbandry law, which was set in 1967 and focuses on livestock safety. Veterinary oversight is only part of the process and as it is production oriented, it does not regulate pets or strays.
When bird flu broke out in Indonesia in 2005, the government had problems convincing residents to keep their pet and backyard farm bird healthy.
Mass cullings of birds are the result of experience, rather than a national policy that is useful around the country, the association believes.
The draft bill is to be discussed with members of House Commission IV overseeing agriculture, plantations, forestry, fisheries and maritime affairs by mid-October.
Chief executive of the National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness, Trisatya Naipospos, who is also a member of the team, said the bill would also secure the country from bio-terrorism threats.
"About 80 percent of bio-terrorism worldwide uses animal-to-human diseases and we have to be ready if it occurs here," Trisatya said.
Legislator Muhammad Jafar Hafsah said the association should be persistent in lobbying the House's members to "speed up the deliberation".
"Everything is possible at the House. Less important bills are often established faster than the urgent ones ... So there is no other way but to do three things: lobby, lobby and lobby," he said.
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