Malaria claims 23 lives of people in Banjarnegara

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.