Indonesians took to the streets to protest government negligence last weekend, after months of toxic smoke from wildfires left people with health problems and even killed others. For months, residents of Kalimantan, Sumatra and Papua have been dealing with continuous exposure to toxic smoke from forest and land fires that has put their health and lives at risk. This led to a sharp increase in acute respiratory infections (a. R. j). As of October 21, 2026, the Ministry of Health of Indonesia recorded a cumulative 333,470 cases of A. R. In the affected areas: 258,298 among people over the age of five and 75,172 among children aged 0-5. Media reports confirm that at least five children in Sumatra and Kalimantan have died from acute respiratory complications related to the haze. Most of the people affected by the fires are left to deal with the harmful effects on their own, due to limited access to free health services provided by the government, poor communities, especially farmers, workers and indigenous peoples.

Indonesians took to the streets to protest government negligence last weekend, after months of toxic smoke from wildfires left people with health problems and even killed others. For months, residents of Kalimantan, Sumatra and Papua have been dealing with continuous exposure to toxic smoke from forest and land fires that has put their health and lives at risk. This led to a sharp increase in acute respiratory infections (a. R. j). As of October 21, 2026, the Ministry of Health of Indonesia recorded a cumulative 333,470 cases of A. R. In the affected areas: 258,298 among people over the age of five and 75,172 among children aged 0-5. Media reports confirm that at least five children in Sumatra and Kalimantan have died from acute respiratory complications related to the haze. Most of the people affected by the fires are left to deal with the harmful effects on their own, due to limited access to free health services provided by the government, poor communities, especially farmers, workers and indigenous peoples.