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More than 170,000 respiratory cases recorded in haze-choked Indonesia
The ministry said children under five accounted for more than 40,000 cases as firefighting and cloud-seeding efforts continue.
On Tuesday, Health Ministry official Then Suyanti announced 174,694 acute respiratory infection cases recorded in Indonesia between August and Sept 21 amid widespread forest fires causing toxic smog.
Intense blazes in Borneo, Sumatra and Papua coincide with the strongest El Nino in 40 years, while experts blame climate change and slash-and-burn farming practices for degrading the landscape.
Infection numbers surged from over 113,000 cases reported as of Sept 9 to 174,694, with more than 40,000 respiratory cases affecting toddlers across affected provinces.
The Health Ministry mobilized oxygen concentrators, face masks, and canisters to affected regions, while toxic smog sends air quality indices plummeting across Malaysia and Singapore.
Then Suyanti advised the public to reduce outdoor activities, use masks, and maintain hydration as Indonesia continues battling the fires for weeks.
FOREST fires in Indonesia, fueled by El Niño, have caused 175,000 respiratory illnesses. Toxic smog has blanketed neighboring countries, and authorities are struggling to extinguish the fires over a vast area.
Indonesia's Ministry of Health revealed that over 174,000 cases of acute respiratory infections were found in areas affected by wildfires from August to September 21, with more than 40,000 of them being young children.
(Jakarta=Yonhap News) Correspondent Son Hyun-kyu = In Indonesia, which is suffering from large-scale wildfires as the El Niño phenomenon coincides with the dry season, respiratory patients over the past two months...