Umar discloses malaria rampant in refugee camps
Umar discloses malaria rampant in refugee camps
JAKARTA (JP): Last year saw a marked increase in the number of
malaria cases, with health experts predicting continued high
numbers if there large concentrations of refugees remain.
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare's director general
for Contagious Disease Eradication and Environmental Sanitation
Umar Fahmi Achmadi described malaria as one of the major health
problems in 2000.
"It is especially rampant in refugee camps," he told
reporters.
"Unfortunately, we do not know the exact number of people
stricken with malaria but based on a brief survey, some 80
percent to 90 percent of the refugees are suffering from
malaria," he claimed.
There is an estimated 800,000 refugees in the country,
displaced due to conflicts or natural disasters.
Most of the refugees are in Aceh, North Sumatra, West
Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast
Sulawesi, and Maluku.
Other health problems prevalent in refugee camps, particularly
those in Atambua and East Nusa Tenggara, are respiratory
infections, diarrhea and measles.
Umar pointed out that malaria is also rife in less developed
provinces such as Irian Jaya and in small and isolated islands.
"In small islands, such as those in East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku
and Riau, the increase in malaria was also caused by the clearing
of the mangroves. The mangroves not only prevented land erosion,
but they are also habitats for mosquitoes that spread the
disease," Umar said.
According to Umar, one of the government's major concerns the
past year was improving community health in Irian Jaya and small
islands.
The ministry launched an intensive health care program in
Irian Jaya last year as the people's health here were poorer than
in other regions.
The poor health conditions were mainly due to a lack of
qualified health workers and medical facilities, and limited
accessibility to health services due to the province's rugged
terrain.
Irian Jaya has an area of 421,981 square kilometers or three
times the size of Java. 85 percent of its 2.1 million population
live in rural areas.
"There is no electricity in the rural areas to refrigerate
vaccines," Umar said.
"So we use solar cells. But solar cells need batteries, and to
charge the batteries, we sometimes have to travel for weeks by
boat," he cited.
There are also diseases that are peculiar to Irian Jaya, he
said, like a species of worm that attacks the brain.
"In short, Irian is indeed a challenge for us," Umar said.
As for the small islands, Umar said, the problem is mainly
providing adequate health service.
"It's impossible to establish one health center for every
island," he said.
The directorate last year also recorded an extraordinarily
high number of rabies cases in Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara.
"We recorded some 1,200 dog bites there last year. Twenty
percent to 30 percent of the bites resulted in rabies, with 100
to 120 fatalities," Umar said.
He added that many fishermen who have migrated from other
islands come with their dogs.
According to Umar controlling the spread of contagious
diseases will remain a major challenge for a country like
Indonesia.
Umar said that besides malaria, other diseases that would have
to be controlled are tuberculosis, HIV (Human Immuno- Deficiency
Virus), AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), leprosy, and
dengue fever .
"We've succeeded in eradicating polio through immunization,
but we had to delay the immunization program in Ambon due to the
conflict in the region," he said.
This year, he said, Indonesia will also embark on a program to
eradicate leprosy by 2005. (hdn)