Ministerial comment raises confusion over Indonesia's immunization intentions

Indonesia's Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, seems to have stirred up a controversy that could undermine the country's routine immunization  program for children, reports the IRIN, a United Nations humanitarian  news and information service.

The Minister appeared to say she wants to end vaccinating children  against meningitis, mumps and some other diseases out of fear that  foreign drugmakers are using the country as a testing ground. She would,  however, continue to advocate immunization against measles, polio,  diphtheria and pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and tuberculosis, the  IRIN said. According to an Associated Press report, she wanted  "scientific proof" that shots for illnesses such as pneumonia, chicken  pox, influenza, measles and typhoid were "beneficial." If not, they  have to be stopped. She is said to have declared: "we don't want our  country to be a testing place for drugs, as has been the case in  Africa."

However, such statements could cause confusion, not just among  provincial health officials, but also among mothers, many of whom are  already unaware of the benefits of routine vaccination or fear possible  side effects in their children, says the IRIN. While more than 87% of  infants are vaccinated against TB - the first vaccine given to infants -  only 46% are fully immunized by the end the first year, a government  survey revealed. Indonesia now ranks fourth globally for un-immunized  children, after India, China and Nigeria.