Jakarta – The deadly avian influenza virus continues to take its toll on the population as the government discusses the formation of a national commission on bird flu.

The Office of the Coordinating Minister for Public Welfare had promised to establish a national commission on bird flu early this year, almost three years after the initial outbreak of avian influenza in the country in 2003.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, however, is yet to sign into operation the commission that could speed up action on bird flu.

The seriousness of the problem is evident, with Indonesia now having the highest fatality rate after Vietnam, with 70.3 percent of suspected bird flu patients dying. Moreover, the country has the highest number, five, of cluster cases in the world.

Bird flu is endemic among poultry in 26 of 33 provinces in the country, with birds in 161 cities and regencies exposed to the H5N1 virus. Six of the provinces have reported human deaths.

With the commission not yet established, ministries such as the Health Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry are alone in handling the increasingly serious disease.

An official at the Center for Indonesian Veterinary Analytical Studies, H. Soehadji, said Tuesday the government lacked coordination and focus in its handling of the disease.

A national strategic plan has been set into place with 10 main points to accomplish. These points include controlling avian influenza in poultry and in humans, protecting high-risk groups, increasing integrated surveillance, capacity building of medical workers and laboratories, and research.

Other points are the restructuring of the poultry industry, strengthening legislation, monitoring and evaluation. However, the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Public Welfare, charged with the coordination of ministries in the handling of bird flu, faces difficulties with no national commission to support it.

Soehadji said that because the country was now dealing with a widespread disease, the commission was needed to break through sectoral and regional barriers. "This commission is needed because in this special autonomy era, the central government cannot just give orders to local administrations."

An expert adviser to the public welfare minister, Emil Agustiono, who has been appointed a member of the national commission, also agreed on the importance of the commission.

He said Monday integrated special body that could cut through the bureaucracy was needed to halt the spread of the disease.

"There's a bit of difficulty in coordinating, because the Agriculture Ministry is not under the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Public Welfare," he said.

He added that hopefully next week the President would legalize the commission. Besides coordination, Emil noted that financial problems were also a factor slowing down the handling of the bird flu problem.

International organizations such as the World Bank, which have promised to help the country, have yet to provide funding for either mass culling or medicine stockpiling.

Emil said the donors' delay in granting funding was probably because they first wanted to see proof of Indonesia's commitment to handling the disease.

He noted that last week, the World Bank's country director to Indonesia, Andrew Steer, promised to donate US$10 million in the form of a grant,

The World Bank, when asked for confirmation, said they were planning to send a team to assess the possibility of granting the funds needed by Indonesia, but had yet to specify any amount.

The Agriculture Ministry's director general of farming, Mathur Riadi, said the government has allocated Rp 30 billion for the culling of about three million birds exposed to the virus in 26 provinces.