JAKARTA - Indonesia has begun issuing health alert cards to warn people using its airports and seaports of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which has hit several countries in the region. The cards, issued to passengers to and from SARS-hit countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Vietnam, contain general information on the atypical pneumonia, which has triggered a worldwide health alert.
The cards also advise those with symptoms of the deadly disease to immediately get treatment at nearby hospitals. Health officials at the Sukarnoe-Hatta International Airport here started issuing the cards on March 17 but other airports and seaports have since followed suit. "Since the global number of SARS cases is increasing rapidly, we started implementing this particular measure for all passengers instead of those who only seem to have the symptoms," said head of airport health clinic Herbagyanto Purnomo.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a travel advisory on March 15 advising travellers to avoid visiting SARS-infected countries. Two weeks ago WHO included Indonesia as one of the infected countries following a report of a suspected SARS patient returning from Vietnam, but the report was later denied by Health Minister Dr Achmad Sayudi. A senior Health Ministry official told radio Elshinta today that airport health officials had been equipped with masks to cover their nose and mouth when checking suspected SARS carriers.
He said various hospitals in the country had been directed to allocate a special ward to treat cases of SARS which might be detected. Hospital staff have also been briefed on the precautions and procedures to take when treating patients with the symptoms.
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JAKARTA - Indonesia has begun issuing health alert cards to warn people using its airports and seaports of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which has hit several countries in the region. The cards, issued to passengers to and from SARS-hit countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Vietnam, contain general information on the atypical pneumonia, which has triggered a worldwide health alert. 
