Malaria claims 60 lives in 6 months in Banyumas

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Banyumas

Legislators in the Central Java city of Banyumas have lashed out at the local administration for not preventing the spread of malaria that they claim killed at least 60 people last year.

They accused the Banyumas government, particularly the local health office, of trying to cover up details showing that the number of people suffering from the tropical disease was rising.

Data obtained by the city's legislative council (DPRD) shows that malaria attacked around 500 people since June last year, killing 60.

Senior legislator Musaddad Bikri Noer told a DPRD plenary meeting in Banyumas on Wednesday that he had received a report that malaria had killed 14 villagers in less than three months.

"The death toll from malaria between June and December was 60 people. This is what we are questioning now. Why the local government was too slow in dealing with the disease outbreak?"

Head of the Banyumas health and welfare office Choirul Mufied said the number of malaria sufferers was recorded at 516 people between July and December last year.

However, he denied the death toll mentioned by Musaddad, chairman of the DPRD's Commission E overseeing social affairs, saying only one of the 516 sufferers died.

Mufied argued that the 60 deaths were possibly caused by other diseases, not malaria. "What we should remember is that malaria is an accompanying disease."

He also denied the accusation that his office did not do its best to stop malaria from spreading. "The government has striven hard to fight the disease," he said.

Data shows that malaria hit at least 10 villages in five subdistricts in Banyumas in the last seven months. They included the villages of Karanggintung, Petarangan and Karang Salam in Kemranjen subdistrict.

Other affected villages were Ketandak and Bogangin in Sumpiuh subdistrict; Watu Agung in Tambak subdistrict; Kemawi and Tanggeran in Somagede subdistrict; and Karang Rau in Banyumas subdistrict.

Mufied further said his office had coordinated with the central and provincial health departments to eradicate the dangerous disease by, among other things, conducting education programs in the effected villages.

The local health office had also examined villagers and launched a massive medical operation against malaria, he added. "We could say now that the disease has been eliminated and there are no longer any sufferers."