Siti Fadillah Supari
| Siti Fadilah Supari | |
|---|---|
| 17th Health Minister of Indonesia | |
|
In office 21 October 2004 – 20 October 2009 |
|
| President | Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono |
| Preceded by | |
| Succeeded by | Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 6, 1949 Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Spouse(s) | Muhammad Supari (deceased) |
| Alma mater |
Gadjah Mada University University of Indonesia |
| Occupation | Cardiologist |
| Profession |
Physician Politician |
| Religion | Islam |
Siti Fadilah Supari (born 6 November 1949 in Surakarta, Central Java) is a prominent cardiology research specialist and an Indonesian politician who served as Minister of Health from 2004 to 2009. Supari attained global notoriety in 2007 when she took on the World Health Organization's practice of sharing avian influenza virus samples.
Supari was appointed Minister of Health by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 20 August 2004. She served until 22 October 2009 when she was succeeded by Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, an epidemiologist and close advisor in her team.
On 3 August 2006, Supari made the unprecedented move by announcing that the Indonesian government will make genomic data on bird flu viruses accessible to anyone. Supari said, opening up global access could be the key to unlocking such important information as the origin of the virus, how it causes disease, how it is mutating, the sources of infection, and how to prevent or cure the virus. "But in future cooperation on bird flu with other countries, the delivery of specimens should be regulated under Material Transfer Agreement documents as is commonly practiced in scientific cooperation," Supari added. The Economist wrote, Supari started a revolution that could yet save the world from the ravages of a pandemic disease. That is because Indonesia's health minister has chosen a weapon that may prove more useful than today's best vaccines in tackling such emerging threats as avian flu: transparency.
It was unclear at the time what prompted Supari to share data, given the widespread reluctance of countries affected by the H5N1 virus to share their data, out of fear such disclosure could trigger economic sanctions. An editorial published in Nature magazine just days before, highlighted this problem with China's practice of belatedly publishing details of a case that tested positive for the virulent H5N1 strain in 2003 — contradicting the government's official line that none had occurred before November 2005. Although not mentioning Supari by name, the editorial also addressed a confirmation by the World Health Organization (WHO) that a cluster of eight cases in an extended family in Northern Sumatra was the first unequivocal occurrence of limited human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus.
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