Malaria attacks Banyumas, death toll reaches 54

Malaria attacks Banyumas, death toll reaches 54
OR

10,000 people infected with malaria, 54 die

Agus Maryono
The Jakarta Post
Banyumas

Following flooding that hit Banyumas last November, malaria, a
tropical disease transferred by the Aegypty mosquito, has
afflicted more than 10,000 locals living in swampy areas in the
regency and killed 54 during December.

Meanwhile, the malaria epidemic has caused serious concerns
among tens of thousands of local people, who have demanded that
the local administration take necessary measures to fight the
disease.

According to data at the Banyumas Public Health Center,
malaria has infected more than 10,000 locals, mostly in the
Tambak, Sampiuh, Kemranjen, Banyumas and Somagede subdistricts.

In Sampiuh, more than 8,400 people tested positive for
malaria, and by Saturday 19 had died.

M. Najib, chief of Sampiuh subdistrict, said malaria was on
the rise in Bogangin, Selanegara, Banjarpanen and Ketanda
villages.

"The four villages, which were inundated for months following
the rainy season, are fertile swampy land for the breeding of
Aegypty mosquitoes," he said.

He called on villagers to visit the public health center to
undergo a medical test or to get medication in order to help wage
a war against the easily transferable disease.

"We have deployed a medical team and health workers to launch
an antimalaria campaign in all villages in the subdistrict," he
said.

Daryo, chief of Sampiuh village, said most villagers were
worried about the malaria epidemic and had called on the local
administration to provide free medication to sufferers so as to
stop the death toll from rising.

He said all people with malaria had the typical symptoms, like
high fever and chills.

"Malaria has plagued hundreds of people in the village and
thousands of others in other villages," he said.

In Kemranjen village, 27 people have died of malaria, with
most of the dead victims passing away before obtaining medication
because of a lack of funds. More than 4,000 others have symptoms
of the disease.

"It is impossible for villagers to visit the public health
center since they have no money because their paddy fields were
damaged by the recent flood," Daroni, chief of the village, said.

Musadad Bikri'i Noor, a member of the Banyumas legislature's
Commission E on social affairs, criticized the local
administration's slowness in reacting to the epidemic.

"Besides being slow, the local administration has been not
transparent in revealing victims of the epidemic. The most
important thing is that all local people should be given malaria
pills to help minimize the number of victims and the fast spread
of the disease," he said.

He said he would ask the legislature to hold a hearing with
the Banyumas regent to discuss the epidemic and would ask him to
dismiss the chief of the local health ministry.

Meanwhile, Choerul Mufid, chief of the local health office,
claimed that malaria had claimed the life of only one person over
the past month.

"It's true that the number of people infected by the disease
has reached more than 5,000, but only one of them died," he said.

He said his office would immediately offer medication to all
malaria sufferers in all villages in the subdistrict.