Siti Fadilah

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.

Influenza debate and standoff with the WHO

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.

On 22 August 2006, just two weeks after Supari made her announcement, Nancy Cox, the director of the influenza division at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) communicated in a press release that following Indonesia's announcement, it too made genomic data on bird flu viruses publicly accessible. The following day a correspondence letter appeared in Nature magazine shedding light on what had triggered the sudden shift in Supari’s stance and that of the CDC. The scientific community had just been introduced to Peter Bogner, the new driving force in the virus sharing debate.

Supari would later describe in her book an affinity for Peter Bogner, his plea to her government to share its bird flu virus data and his concern when she annoyed the US administration at times. Supari wrote, he told me indirectly my speech had been too sharp, or Peter Bogner has the capability to change the world’s opinions. A former broadcast executive at Time Warner, he was not only familiar with intellectual property issues, but more importantly, he was friendly with Supari’s government following his role in the 2004 tsunami relief efforts. He would turn out to be the mastermind behind the GISAID initiative, a mechanism devised and financed almost exclusively by him.

When Supari attended the 61st World Health Assembly on 16 May 2008, the day GISAID’s database was launched, Supari delivered on her promise and made available genetic H5N1 data alongside other countries like China and Russia. Within four months, this publicly accessible resource offered the world’s most comprehensive collection of influenza data.

Claiming Western governments could be developing viruses for dissemination in the developing world with the goal of generating business for pharmaceutical companies, Supari refused World Health Organization (WHO) researchers access to Indonesia's H5N1 bird flu virus samples in 2006. Indonesia resumed sending some H5N1 samples to WHO after a new agreement that developing nations would get access to vaccines.

2009 flu pandemic

During a press conference on 28 April 2009, Supari reassured the public over the government's response to the swine flu threat and responded to a question on the origin of the H1N1 virus and whether it could have been man made. Supari stated she was not sure whether the virus was genetically engineered but it's a possibility. Several news outlets, among them Bloomberg News and the Times of India, reported about an investigation by the WHO into a claim by an Australian researchers that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been created as a result of human error. Australian virologists Adrian Gibbs, John Armstrong and Jean Downie suggested in a paper published in the Virology Journal, the new H1N1 strain, may be the product of three strains from three continents that swapped genes in a lab or a vaccine-making plant, suggesting its origin could be more simply explained by human involvement than a coincidence of nature.

On 12 May 2009 Siti Fadilah Supari expressed her dissatisfaction of seeing a lot of foreign medical students in Indonesia. She asked Universitas Padjadjaran Rector, Bandung to cut down foreign student intake in phases especially from Malaysian while visiting Cicendo Eyes Hospital, Bandung.

Supari was instrumental in the termination of the United States Naval Medical Research Unit Two presence in Jakarta, and NAMRU-2 departed Indonesia in 2010. A 2008 memo revealed by Wikileaks indicated her personal suspicion of an "American military laboratory" in Indonesia not under her control. This is despite the fact that NAMRU-2 had been operating in Indonesia on the campus of the Indonesia Ministry of Health for decades.

Supari is a cardiology research specialist based in Jakarta. Until his death in 2009, Supari was married for 36 years to Muhammad Supari. Quite common to Indonesians, Supari enjoys to sing karaoke as she did for her late husband just days before his passing.

In April 2012, Supari was named in a hearing at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court as a suspect in a corruption case surrounding a Health Ministry project in 2005. It is alleged that Supari abused her powers as Minister of Health during the procurement of medical equipment for the ministry’s crisis centre in 2005. The project allegedly led to state losses of Rp 6.15 billion (US$670,000).

• It's time for the world to change - In the spirit of dignity, equity and transparency - Divine hand behind avian influenza, ISBN 978-979-17357-0-4