The public must know about preventive measures."Jambi (ANTARA News) - Health Minister Nila Djuwita Anfasa Moeloek has called on the public to learn preventive measures against the impacts of haze emanating from forest fires, so they could stay healthy.
"The public must know about preventive measures," Minister Moeloek, an ophthalmologic surgeon, stated here on Tuesday.
She called on the inhabitants of the regions hit by forest fires to say indoors when the pollutant standard index reached a hazardous level.
"When the level of the pollutant standard index is high, do not go outside homes, particularly for children and other high-risk groups, such as elderly people," Moeloek, who had served as the then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonos special envoy for the Millennium Development Goals, affirmed.
The minister also advised the residents to always wear face masks when they venture outdoors, stay amply hydrated, and eat nutritious food to boost their immunity, so that they would not easily fall ill.
The hazardous haze arising from the ongoing forest and plantation fires has led to 10 deaths, left 503 thousand people sick, and 43 million people exposed to smoke in six provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan alone.
The people are suffering from acute respiratory infection, eye and skin irritations, and pneumonia.
Moeloek was born in Jakarta on April 11, 1949. Her husband, Faried Anfasa Moeloek had also served as health minister during the period between 1998 and 1999.
(Uu.F001/KR-BSR)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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