Indonesia: Students Spreading Bird Flu Message

According to this article, The Indonesian Youth Forum, a group of students and youth sponsored by the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry, are traveling around Indonesia encouraging people to eat chicken. The group is part of a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about avian flu.

According to Elmir Amien, founder of the Youth Forum, “the poultry industry has incurred huge financial losses because exaggerated media reports have made people too scared to eat eggs and chicken." The group wants consumers, chicken traders and slaughterhouse managers to share information so that they can protect themselves against bird flu, and so that people can feel safe eating poultry products.

At a traditional market in Cipuka, Tangerang, dozens of students from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, the University of Indonesia, Jakarta University, Trisakti University, Jayabaya University and Pramadina University participated in the campaign. The students cleaned all of the chicken coops in the market and put up posters declaring the area free from avian influenza.

According to the head of the Tangerang regency health agency, the campaign is one of nine steps prepared by the Indonesian government to reach its target in combating bird flu.