JAKARTA: More than 170,000 respiratory cases were recorded in regions affected by haze in Indo­nesia, a health ministry official said on Tuesday, as the country battles for weeks to control fires that caused the toxic smog.

Blazes in Borneo, Sum­a­tra and Papua have blanketed parts of the vast ar­­chipelago of more than 280 million people, as well as neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, sending air qua­lity indices plummeting.

The toxic smog contains pollutants including PM 2.5, a fine particulate matter smaller than a human hair that could carry heal­­th risk such as respiratory infections, health ministry official Then Suyanti told a news conference.

“There were 174,694 ca­­ses of acute respiratory in­­fections between August and September 21 in areas affected by forest and land fires,” she said. More than 40,000 of the rec­or­ded respiratory cases affected toddlers, she said.

The overall figure, rep­o­rted in seven haze-affe­c­t­­ed provinces across Indo­nesia, was up from over 113,000 cases reported as of Sept 9. The health ministry had mobilised aid including oxygen concentrators, face masks and ox­­ygen canisters to the affe­cted regions, Then said.

“We advise (the public) to reduce outdoor activities when air quality worsen(s), use mask and maintain hydration,” she said. Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, which typically runs from July to October.

But the blazes are more intense this year, coinciding with what is expected to be the strongest El Nino climate phenomenon since comparable records began four decades ago.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2026