Indonesia changes policy on reporting bird flu deaths

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia has changed its policy on reporting bird flu cases and will only announce the death toll from the disease every six months, the health minister said on Thursday.

Indonesia has the highest toll of any nation with 108 confirmed human fatalities. Since the virus resurfaced in Asia in late 2003, it has killed 240 people in a dozen countries, the World Health Organization says.

"We will not announce every single new bird flu death because sometimes it is misunderstood," Siti Fadillah Supari told Reuters, adding it was unethical to announce the identity of the victims.

"It's OK not to announce it. Sometimes they only give hurtful comments instead of helping," she said, without elaborating.

The country will update new bird flu deaths every six months, instead of announcing every fatality each time, Supari said.

She declined to comment on media reports of a 109th death last month.

Indonesia so far has maintained its decision not to share bird flu samples, saying it wants guarantees from richer nations and drugmakers that poor countries would get access to affordable vaccines developed from their samples.

International health experts say it is vital to have access to samples of the constantly mutating H5N1 virus, which they fear could change into a form easily transmissible among humans and sweep the world in months, killing millions of people.

(Reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu, writing by Fitri Wulandari, editing by Sugita Katyal)