Hundreds hospitalized for malaria
CILACAP, Central Java (JP): Hundreds of people living in the villages of Panikel, Ujung Gagak and Ujung Alang in the Kampung Laut district of Cilacap regency have been suffering from malaria.
Cilacap Regent Herry Tabri Karta confirmed on Friday that in the past week more than 100 residents of Kampung Laut had been declared to carry the lethal disease.
"Now 88 are being treated for the disease, 50 at Panikel and the other 38 at Ujung Gagak," he told The Jakarta Post. "Some others have been sent to Cilacap."
He did not say when the outbreak started, while records on the number of patients at Ujung Alang were not available.
According to the regent, malaria is endemic in Kampung Laut. "We find it difficult to eradicate the disease, which is related to hygiene. People from Kampung Laut have not maintained their environment properly. There are many dirty unused ponds, which are good places for the Anopheles mosquito to breed," he said, referring to the mosquito which can transmit malaria to humans.
The three villages are located some 10 kilometers off the Cilacap shore and it takes almost three hours to reach the villages by motorized boat.
Harry said most of the 13,000 residents of Kampung Laut earned their living by breeding fish. "So it's impossible to dry out the ponds that support their lives. We just want pond-owners to maintain the cleanliness of ponds that they don't use regularly."
He also complained that people from Kampung Laut didn't go to community health centers or visit doctors when they fell ill. "They also take medicine that they receive from health centers irregularly. Many of them leave their medicine untouched despite their illness."
The outbreak of malaria came as a blow to local doctors and officials at Cilacap Health Office.
"We will discuss the matter on Monday," he said. He didn't explain why the discussion on such an emergency would take place on Monday, instead of Saturday.
Meanwhile, a member of the regency legislative council criticized the sluggishness of medical officials.
"Why should they discuss the spread of the disease on Monday. Just send a medical team to Kampung Laut as an emergency step. Further steps could be discussed later," Thohirin Bahri said.
He said that prompt and proper steps must be taken, "or we will wait until someone dies from malaria."
Regent Herry said that first aid had been given as mass treatment. "We send a doctor, a nurse and a midwife every day. The program started a long time ago."
In 1985, malaria killed 10 people in Kampung Laut and four others died in 1999 from the disease.
A week ago malaria also hit the village of Karanganyar, in Purwonegoro district, Cilacap regency. A nongovernmental organization reported that at least 10 people had died from the illness within the month of August.
The report has been discussed among local officials, but concrete steps have yet to be taken to curb the disease. (45/sur)