Government to fight malaria outbreak

Government to fight malaria outbreak

SEMARANG (JP): The government will conduct a five-month
program to contain the outbreak of malaria in Java and Bali,
following a recent outbreak of the disease in villages at the
foot of Menoreh mountain that borders regencies in Yogyakarta and
Central Java.

Director General of Contagious Diseases Eradication and
Environmental Sanitation Umar Fahmi Achmadi said here on Tuesday
that the program, conducted in collaboration with the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. government, will focus on
villages in the Central Java regencies of Purworejo and Magelang
and their neighboring regency of Kulon Progo in Yogyakarta.

"The three regencies are considered areas most prone to the
disease in Java," Umar said.

Umar was speaking at the Central Java's Ministry of Health and
Social Welfare office to promote the program. He is also slated
to brief health officials in Yogyakarta and Surabaya.

In targeted villages, the effort will include spraying
insecticide in all homes and distributing treated mosquito nets
to residents.

Stressing that malaria has become one of the country's top
priorities to eradicate, Umar said that all doctors in the areas
will monitor residents for active cases of malaria and provide
effective drugs to treat cases when they occur.

"However, the local community will play the leading role in
detecting malaria cases, observing proper treatment and
monitoring side effects of the medicines," he said.

The U.S. government has provided US$500,000 to finance the
program.

Technical assistance for the project will be given by WHO and
the U.S. Navy Medical Research Unit No. 2 (NAMRU-2) which is
based in Jakarta.

Some 50 years ago, a massive intervention effort supported by
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was
successful in eradicating malaria in Bali and East and West Java
and brought it under control in Central Java.

The disease reappeared in mid-1990s, but the recent economic
crisis has constrained funding for malaria control activities. As
a result infection rates have accelerated and there is now
potential for endemic malaria to regain its foothold. (har/bby)