Indonesian health ministry said on Friday that haze in Indonesia had caused more than 30,000 people to suffer from health problems, most of which are respiratory ones, including pneumonia, in Riau province, the hardest hit region.
Indonesian health ministry reported 25,834 people suffering from respiratory infection, 538 others having pneumonia, 2,246 people getting skin irritation problem, and 1,656 people having eye irritation problem.
Head of Crisis Center of the ministry, Achmad Yurianto, said as people have suffered from pneumonia, it indicated that the danger had come into alert level.
“Today, we sent dozens of doctors, including lung specialists to help settle the impact.
“To prevent further impact on the people, the health ministry has also distributed over 63,000 masks to the local residence,” Yurianto said.
The ministry called the people to keep their body healthy to prevent the diseases.
The haze in Sumatra and Borneo has also disturbed flights and spread into neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.
The government has threatened to suspend business license of firms burning forest during land clearing and punish their top officials with criminal penalty.
Hundreds of soldiers have been dispatched to help stop the fire.
Indonesia has been battered by forest fires since the 1990s, as the ensuing haze enveloped neighboring ASEAN countries and caused loss of billions of US dollars.
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