Minister Of Health Budi Admits Australia Has 'interest' During Wolbachia Mosquito Trial In Bali

Replica of Aedes aegypti mosquito causes dengue. (Between/HO-Kemenkes/pri)

Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said there was an Australian interest in the Wolbachia mosquito trial program in Bali Province, namely to protect its citizens from the threat of dengue hemorrhagic fever while on vacation in the province. "Many Australians come to Bali, are afraid of getting dengue, so they help directly through Australian grants. This is the 'crowd'," said Budi Gunadi Sadikin at the DPR Commission IX Working Meeting followed by a network in Jakarta, Antara, Tuesday, November 28. The implementation of the Wolbachia mosquito trial in Bali is not included in a similar program carried out by the Ministry of Health in five cities in Indonesia, namely Semarang, West Jakarta, Bandung, Kupang, and Bontang. "Denpasar does run alone. Maybe the local government has access to researchers in Australia, they make their own programs," he said. Previously, the Ministry of Health confirmed that the release of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito larvae containing Wolbachia in Bali was postponed, following the attitude of a number of local residents who were not ready for the policy. As a result, the application of Wolbachia technology, which should have been running from 12-13 November 2023 in the Denpasar and Buleleng regions, Bali, has been postponed. This is because many residents are afraid and worried because they do not know the impact of the risks to the benefits of this technology.

Bali Province is one of the testing areas for the implementation of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito innovation containing Wolbachia through collaboration with the World Mosquito Program (WMP). WMP is a non-governmental organization owned by Monash University, Australia, which works to protect the global community from mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, zika, yellow fever, and chikungu.