The fight against malaria

A crisis is a phenomenon that tends to be social.

That is, it never comes alone, and is very often accompanied by work and "colleagues."

That, in effect, is exactly what the world is facing nowadays, and Indonesia scarcely an exception.

Global warming has created headaches across the globe and, in no small part, here in Indonesia, too -- whether one realizes it or not. Then come economic crises, hitting one country after another. The ensuing political crises in many parts of the world come as no surprise.

While groping to find a way out of the economic crisis, and at the same time becoming ever more vexed by growing political instability, Indonesia remains vulnerable to other crises, such as the malaria outbreak occurring in many parts of the country.

A few days ago, reports surfaced that 54 people had died in the regency of Banyumas, Central Java; in the last month alone, as many as 10,000 were infected. At first came the denials before the regency Health Office eventually responded.

WHO (World Health Organization) data shows that approximately 300 million people worldwide have been infected by malaria, and that between as many as 1.5 million die of it every year.

In Indonesia, malaria is endemic to most areas, with the eastern part of the country the most severely affected. Malaria is now a major public health problem throughout most of the archipelago.

About half of its 216 million people are at risk of being infected, and a recent estimate shows that about 15 million Indonesians have, in the past several years, suffered from malaria in this country, with 30,000 lives lost.

In Java, where more than half of the Indonesian population lives -- and which had been declared relatively free of malaria in the 1960s -- recent data indicates that cases of malaria have almost doubled since 1989.

Massive efforts were made in the 1950s, and again in the following decade, to control malaria in the country with the help of WHO officials.

Those efforts were successful. Since 1995, however, there has been an alarming increase in malaria outbreaks, with some areas showing a 200 percent rise in the number of reported cases.

The government launched a special program called Gerakan Basmi Kembali Malaria (Rollback Malaria Program) in 1998.

It is clear, sadly, that the current implementation of malaria control strategies has not had much impact on the magnitude of the problem. All provinces, except for Bali, are considered endemic, with the epidemics occurring from time to time.

Moreover, there have been indications that, especially in some parts of Java and also in the outer islands, the malaria situation has been deteriorating.

More alarming still, efforts to control the malaria problem have become increasingly difficult for at least three reasons.

First, the 21 species of mosquitoes that can carry malaria in Indonesia have become increasingly resistant to drugs.

Second, the effects of global warming have increased the availability of breeding grounds for the mosquitoes. And third, the continuing economic crisis has hampered the government's ability to control the problem.

To improve the effectiveness of the programs, strategies to curb malaria must therefore include NGOs, various government and non-governmental agencies and the public at large.

Indonesia needs to turn its Rollback Malaria Program into a social movement.

The malaria problem is a crisis so severe that it could easily further undermine people's ability to bear the already heavy burdens of the current economic crisis and political volatility that reigns in Indonesia.