Malaria threatens children in NTT

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Kupang: The high number of malaria cases has become a serious threat to many children in Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), an expert on malaria says.

East Nusa Tenggara-based malaria expert with UNICEF Indonesia, Ermi Ndoen, said that infant mortality caused by malaria in the province had reached 80 children per year — the highest malaria rate in Indonesia. Eastern Indonesia’s rate of infant mortality due to malaria stood at 77.5 per 1,000 births. Ermi added that according to data compiled from 2007 until now, more than 60 percent of pregnant and breast-feeding women in the area had been infected with malaria. “The government has not yet deemed this as threatening. This disease needs serious attention from every party,” Ermi said in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Monday.

A staff expert for the provincial government, Hieron Fernandez, said that the province already had the mosquito bylaw, which allows the administration to sentence a household, which has been found guilty of neglecting mosquito larvae in their houses, to a maximum sentence of four years’ imprisonment. However, the bylaw cannot be implemented effectively, because the governor has yet to issue a gubernatorial regulation for technical guidance.