Firefighters attempt to extinguish a wildfire in Palembang, South Sumatra province, Indonesia on Sep 8, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Abriansyah Liberto)

Indonesian wildfires cause respiratory infections to double in a week, health ministry says

More than 12.5 million people in Indonesia have been exposed to haze caused by fires across seven provinces, says the country's health ministry.

11 Sep 2026, 02:18 · CNA · Join

Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST

JAKARTA: Respiratory infections caused by hazardous wildfire pollution in Indonesia have more than doubled in just over a week, data from the country's health ministry showed on Thursday (Sep 10).

Fires have been blazing across vast stretches of forest and peatland throughout the Indonesian archipelago, causing hazardous emissions to surge, particularly in the hardest-hit provinces on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

This year's wildfire season is the most intense in 11 years as "super-El Niño" weather conditions drive up temperatures and cause punishing droughts. Fire emissions from the country now account for a third of the global total.

The number of people suffering from wildfire-related respiratory illnesses rose to 113,336 as of Sep 9, up from 50,891 on Sep 1, according to figures presented by health ministry spokesperson Widyawati during a press conference.

CNA Games

Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time

Buzzword
Create words using the given letters

Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser

Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge

Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Show More
Show Less

More than 12.5 million people have been exposed to haze caused by fires across seven provinces, said Widyawati, who goes by one name.

Nearly a million masks and hundreds of oxygen concentrator units have been sent to help residents cope with the pollution, and thousands of medical workers have been deployed to affected areas, she said.

"The process of deploying additional medical personnel and various supplies is ongoing. We will continue to monitor which areas require more healthcare workers and dispatch them there."

Singapore and Malaysia have also recorded unhealthy air quality levels because of transboundary haze.

A firefighter uses a tree branch to try and douse the flames amid a wildfire in Palembang, South Sumatra province, Indonesia on Sep 8, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Abriansyah Liberto)

To help Indonesia battle the fires, Japan has sent three CH-47 Chinook helicopters and they began conducting trial flights on Thursday, said Berton Panjaitan, spokesperson for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency.

The helicopters would aid the Indonesian military's water bombing operations starting either on Friday or Saturday in West Kalimantan on Borneo, he said.

Malaysia, which shares a land border with Indonesia on Borneo, has also offered to help with its aerial firefighting capabilities, according to a letter from the country's environment minister to his Indonesian counterpart.

Panjaitan said Jakarta was conducting inter-agency coordination to discuss Malaysia's offer.

From January to July this year, fires burned around 202,000 hectares of land, government data showed. Environmental group YKAN has estimated that another 600,000 hectares were damaged by fire in August.

Newsletter