Malaria Elimination Efforts In Gorontalo, Focus On High-Risk Community Groups

JAKARTA - Malaria is still one of the infectious diseases that needs to be watched out for because it has a major impact on public health, especially infants, toddlers, and pregnant women.

The disease, which is transmitted through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito, also has an impact on community productivity, so that elimination efforts continue to be carried out in a sustainable manner in various regions.

In Gorontalo Province, the Health Office accelerated malaria elimination measures through special intervention training for Mobile Migrant Population (MMP) for health workers. Head of the Gorontalo Provincial Health Office, dr. Anang S. Autoluwa, emphasized that malaria remains a serious concern both at the national and global levels, in line with the target of SDGs 3.3, RPJMN, and the 2019-2024 Ministry of Health Strategic Plan which is monitored directly by the Presidential Staff Office (KSP).

"However, there has been real progress in the elimination coverage with 77 percent of the area completed in mid-2024 and increased to 79 percent by mid-2025," Anang said in Gorontalo, as quoted by ANTARA.

Based on the 2020-2024 National Action Plan for the Acceleration of Malaria Elimination (RAN-PEM), it is targeted that 75 percent of districts in Indonesia will be free of malaria by the end of 2024. Even though the pandemic had hampered achievements, progress still showed an increase.

In Gorontalo itself, the trend of malaria cases in the last three years has fluctuated. In 2022 the Annual Parasite Incidence (API) figure was at 0.04 percent, jumped to 1.31 percent in 2023, and decreased slightly in 2024 with 1.29 percent.

The increase in cases was triggered by extraordinary incidents (KLB) in Pohuwato, Boalemo, and Gorontalo which were closely related to gold mining activities without a permit (PETI).

According to Anang, five of the six districts in Gorontalo have entered the elimination phase, while one is still in a low endemic status.

"The biggest challenge in resolving KLB in areas that have been eliminated is the presence of MMP, namely groups of people who move to high-risk areas such as mine sites and forests," he explained.

The training which took place on 19 '22 August 2025 presented speakers from WHO, the Indonesian Ministry of Health, the Human Initiative (HI), and the Gorontalo Provincial Health Office. There were 42 participants consisting of representatives of the health office, government hospitals, to health centers located in malaria-prone areas, especially areas with mining populations and forest acquisition.

Through increasing the capacity of health workers, this program is expected to accelerate the handling of the malaria KLB while at the same time supporting the malaria elimination target in Gorontalo Province.