Via Bird Flu Today, a Reuters story reports Indonesia hospitals struggle to prepare for bird flu.
Indonesia has appointed 44 hospitals across the world's fourth most populous country to take care of bird flu patients, with that number expected to more than double to 100.
But years of economic crisis have taken their toll on the health system, leaving hospitals short of funds and resources, let alone being ready for a disease that could infect countless numbers in the impoverished country of 220 million people.
Halid Saleh, head of team of doctors to treat bird flu patients at the Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital in the eastern city of Makassar, said they had prepared two isolation rooms with two beds each to handle patients.
But there were no ventilators, monitors or emergency support equipment for the rooms because they were needed for intensive care units, he said.
All the more reason for the western nations to pour equipment and specialists into regions at risk.
