TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPapua primary target in battle to eradicate malaria nationwide
The six provinces in the country’s easternmost region account for 90 percent of the national caseload, whereas nearly 80 percent of all regencies and cities across the country have been declared malaria-free.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Undated illustration of female Anopheles mosquito penetrating human skin. (Shutterstock/Amir Ridhwan)
T
he government is focusing on Papua in its fight to eradicate malaria, recognizing that swift action is needed to reduce cases in the country’s easternmost region, which contributes more than 90 percent of the national burden of the mosquito-borne disease.
Nearly 80 percent of all regencies and cities across the country have achieved malaria-free status. But the high burden of malaria in Papua makes the region a crucial factor in determining the success of malaria elimination efforts in the Asia-Pacific.
Among the government’s efforts in its fight against malaria in Papua are detection new cases, patient treatment and mosquito population control. The integration of malaria detection into the Health Ministry’s free health checkup program is another measure to accelerate caseload reduction.
“[This] integration will be a key entry point for identifying more malaria cases. People in highly endemic areas will be encouraged to undergo regular malaria screenings at local health facilities,” Ina Agustina Isturini, the ministry’s communicable diseases director, told a press briefing on Thursday in Jakarta.
Ina added that the ministry would increase the number of health workers for testing and detecting active cases across Papua, as well as assist in the distribution of antimalarial drugs to patients.
The government would also work with private firms on strengthening environmental management and controlling the populations of Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit malaria.
Papuan hot spots
