Malaria haunts tsunami survivors

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Alwin Salman was standing in a line in front of a government office in Banda Aceh, waiting to pick up his monthly cash payment to help tsunami survivors get back on their feet, when he began feeling ill.

He felt hot and began sweating profusely, but his teeth were chattering. Then he fainted. Alwin, 29, woke up to find himself in the hospital, where doctors told him he had malaria.

Alwin was released after several days and life seemed to be returning to normal for the unmarried man. Then three weeks later, while lying in bed on a hot afternoon, his symptoms returned and he was rushed to the hospital by his surviving family.

Alwin lost his parents and two siblings when the tsunami swept over their house in Banda Aceh's Ajun subdistrict. Immediately after the disaster he was living in a shelter for displaced persons, but has since moved into his sister's house in the Kanereum neighborhood of the provincial capital.

"It was a terrible disaster. Now I am haunted by the thought that I will die from this disease," said Alwin from his hospital bed on Wednesday.

It is estimated there are hundreds of thousands of people in Aceh suffering from malaria. The disease has been a major concern since the tsunami last year, and that concern has heightened as the rainy season approaches the province.

Between January and November, there were 26,844 reported cases of suspected malaria in Aceh, with three deaths. Sadly, many of the people who contracted malaria were tsunami survivors.

"The 26,844 figure was clinically detected, meaning they were found to be suffering from malaria-type symptoms. But I believe, after laboratory tests, the number of people who test positive for the disease could be much lower. In North Aceh regency, some 120 people had malaria-type symptoms, but laboratory tests found only six were suffering from the disease," Marwan Nusri, the head of provincial health office, told The Jakarta Post at his office on Wednesday.

Dengue fever, another disease transmitted by mosquitoes, is another major concern for the people of Aceh. The number of dengue fever cases in the province has been on the rise since the tsunami.

There were 290 reported cases of dengue fever last year, with three deaths. But the number of cases jumped to 423 so far this year, with seven fatalities.

"The tsunami brought down many buildings. The rubble of the buildings has proven to be a perfect breeding ground for the Anopheles and Aedes aegypty mosquitoes, the carriers of malaria and dengue," said Marwan.

Marwan said his office had stepped up its campaign to fight the spread of dengue and malaria. This campaign includes more spraying of areas where mosquitoes are thought to be breeding, and an intensified effort to educate the public about the importance of keeping their neighborhoods clean.

The government is also providing free medical treatment for malaria victims.

"I have not had to pay for anything, except for medicine I bought outside the hospital," said Alwin.

Marwan said the foreign NGOs and doctors who streamed into the province after the tsunami had provided assistance in combating the diseases, but the health official still wanted more help.

"I hope the foreign NGOs will not just focus on reconstruction. Working on tangible projects such as building hospitals is good, but a transfer of knowledge to health workers here is also important to improve the quality of health care in Aceh in the years to come."