Ministry Of Health Galang Collaboration To Accelerate Malaria Management In Papua

ILLUSTRATION OF DOK VOI

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health has accelerated the elimination of malaria in Papua Province through a number of intervention programs involving the role of local and cross-sectoral governments.

"This year, South Sorong Regency, Southwest Papua, succeeded in eliminating malaria for the first in Papua. I ask that in the coming years there will be more regencies/cities that will follow, such as South Sorong," said Director General of Disease Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, June 6.

Based on data from the Ministry of Health as of 2022, there are still 5 districts with the most positive cases of malaria in Papua, namely Mimika with 77,379 cases, Jayapura City with 27,436 cases, Jayapura with 17,676 cases, Yakuhimo 12,099 cases, and Keerom with 10,804 cases.

Maxi said interventions that local governments can take to reduce the rate of malaria cases can be carried out by increasing surveillance through the involvement of analysts, midwives, and doctors.

Local governments are also encouraged to conduct mass blood surveys (MBS) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) in high endemic areas, to the formation of malaria cadres to monitor the situation.

MBS is an effort to search for and find malaria sufferers carried out through malaria surveys in residents who do not show symptoms of clinical malaria. While the IRS is the practice of spraying insecticides on the interior walls of houses in malaria-affected areas.

The Ministry of Health also encourages the involvement of the community in efforts to investigate the epidemiology of malaria in their environment.

The Ministry of Health is committed to helping local governments form an advocacy and self-assessment team, following up on the results of entomologist training assessments, and on the job training of medical laboratory technology experts.

According to Maxi, the number of malaria cases in Indonesia from year to year has increased. Apart from Papua, there are also other provinces in eastern Indonesia that contribute to the national number of cases, including Maluku, and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

"Almost 89 percent of malaria cases still exist in these areas. The role of local and cross-sectoral governments is needed to accelerate malaria elimination," he said.

Director General Maxi asked local governments, especially in eastern Indonesia, to immediately pursue malaria elimination.

"Our hope is that malaria in Indonesia can really be controlled, especially in the eastern region. We hope that the role of the regents, mayors, and governors will also encourage regions to accelerate malaria elimination," he said.

At the Commemoration of Malaria Day May 2023, the Regional Secretary (Sekda) of South Sorong Regency, Dance Nauw, explained that malaria elimination in his area had gone through a long process from 2009 to 2022.

The number of cases from 2009 to 2022 reached the highest figure of up to 8 thousand in 2012 and 2013. Then cases began to decline from 2016 to 2022, and in 2022 there were only 21 cases," he said.

He said that there were various efforts made from 2009 to 2022 to eliminate malaria. The efforts carried out in 2009-2014 were the distribution of 87,480 mass nurseries.

"We have also formed a surveillance and training team for skilled workers to monitor the situation of the case," he said.