Respiratory problems climb past 170,000 cases in haze-hit Indonesia

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JAKARTA, Indonesia - More than 170,000 respiratory cases were recorded in regions affected by haze in Indonesia, a health ministry official said Tuesday, as the country battles for weeks to control fires that caused the toxic smog.

Blazes in Borneo, Sumatra and Papua have blanketed parts of the vast archipelago of more than 280 million people, as well as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, sending air quality indices plummeting.

The toxic smog contains pollutants including PM 2.5, a fine particulate matter smaller than a human hair that could carry health risk such as respiratory infections, health ministry official Then Suyanti told a news conference.

"There were 174,694 cases of acute respiratory infections between August and September 21 in areas affected by forest and land fires," she said.

More than 40,000 of the recorded respiratory cases affected toddlers, she said.

The overall figure, reported in seven haze-affected provinces across Indonesia, was up from over 113,000 cases reported as of September 9.

The health ministry had mobilized aid including oxygen concentrators, face masks and oxygen canisters to the affected regions, Then said.

"We advise (the public) to reduce outdoor activities when air quality worsen, use mask and maintain hydration," she said.

Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, which typically runs from July to October.

But the blazes are more intense this year, coinciding with what is expected to be the strongest El Niño climate phenomenon since comparable records began four decades ago.

Experts also blame climate change, decades of forest degradation and slash-and-burn land-clearing practises that have changed the naturally fire-resistant landscape. — Agence France-Presse