ADB assists fight against malaria

ADB assists fight against malaria

BANJARMASIN, S. Kalimantan: The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
has earmarked Rp 460 million for the construction of a center to
assist in the province's fight against malaria.

The head of the provincial health office, Soejano H, was
quoted as saying by Antara that the malaria station would be
constructed on a one-hectare plot in Batulicin, Kotabaru
district, where Anopheles mosquitoes, the carrier of malaria,
proliferate.

The station is expected to help the local government intensify
its program combating malaria.

The ADB has also extended a Rp 3 billion soft loan to finance
a program for the eradication of contagious diseases in Central
Sulawesi.

"This loan, the first for Central Sulawesi, will be spent on
efforts to eradicate tuberculosis, acute respiratory tract
infections, measles and polio," the head of the provincial health
office, M Akib Kamaluddin, said Monday in the Central Sulawesi
capital of Palu.

He added that the fund would be utilized to purchase medical
instruments and medicine and to cover the operational costs of
field workers.