Malaria claims 23 lives of people in Banjarnegara

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Banjarnegara

At least 23 people in Banjarnegara have died over the past two months following an outbreak of malaria in Banyumas and Cilacap last November and December that spread to the Central Java regency.

The villages of Kalitengah, Kaliajer, Merden, and Karananyar, all in Purwonogoro regency, were the hardest hit. Hundreds of people have been infected with the disease, which is spread by Anopheles mosquitoes.

Suprihantono, the chief of Kalitengah Village, said that he has reported the malaria cases to the local administration but added that, so far, no action has been taken.

"Some of the victims have been reluctant to go to the public health center in Banjarnegara because they have no money -- while the local administration and the health centers have yet to respond" he said here on Thursday.

Suprihantono said that he knew nothing about the direct cause of the outbreak, but he added that all of the victims shared the common symptom of a high fever.

Masrifan, chief of the local health office, confirmed that the malaria has spread to the regency from Banyumas and Cilacap, and that, altogether, the number of victims in Kalitengah has reached 300.

"So far, the malaria has claimed only one" and not 23 lives, said Masrifan, who arrived home last week after a study program in the United States.

Sri Handono, director of the Bandjarnegara General Hospital, confirmed the figure but added that he was not sure whether the deaths were caused by malaria.

"The local administration and public health centers should be proactive -- to provide medical aid for the sufferers, and to determine whether there are other diseases at hand besides malaria," she said.

The malaria broke out in the province's southern area following the floods over the last three months since Java was declared free of the disease in 1980s.

So far, the provincial and central government have yet to succeed in eradicating malaria in Banyumas and Cilacap.

At least 107 villagers died of the malaria in the regency last year. The provincial administration, however, touted the figure of only 13 fatalities when Minister of Achmad Suyudi visited Banyumas last month.

Budi Hermanto, coordinator for the Anti-pollution Movement in the regency, acknowledged that he has only detected malaria for the first time since the province was hit by floods last October.

"In recent months, we found ten people dead from the disease in Karanganyar Village, and that hundreds of others had the symptoms," he said.

Krisna Jaya, chief of the provincial health office, said that malaria has plagued 13 regencies in the province.

They were Banyumas, Purbalingga, Pemalang, Pati, Kendal, Pekalongan, Kebuman, Jepara, Magelang, Cilacap, Wonosobo, Banjarnegara, and Purworejo.