No single country is able to reduce malaria infections to zero percent."Sentani, Papua (ANTARA News) - The Jayapura district administration is committed to eliminating malaria in three phases, as part of the "Malaria-Free Jayapura District 2026" program.
The first phase is the malaria control intensification program (2010-2016), the Head of Jayapura District Mathius Awoitauw said here on Saturday.
The second phase is the malaria pre-elimination (2017-2023) program and the third is the consolidation phase program (2024-2026), he said.
"The elimination of malaria is a continuation of the malaria control program which was successful in reducing malaria-related mortality and morbidity rates. No single country is able to reduce malaria infections to zero percent," he said.
Priority activities in the malaria elimination program include identification of, and medication for, malaria patients and carriers to prevent others from being infected by malaria.
Other activities include the reduction of contacts between human beings and Anopheles mosquitoes, the primary carrier of malaria.
"The World Health Organization (WHO) will issue a certificate to a country which has been free of malaria cases for over three consecutive years. At the provincial level, the evaluation will be carried out by an independent inspection team sent by the central government," he said.
Malaria has posed a major public health problem in Papua.
In 2001, it was found that approximately 15 million people had contracted malaria, while thirty thousand deaths were reported.
The persistently high incidents of malaria in the past was mainly attributed to the rapid spread of parasites that were resistant to first and second line antimalarial drugs, chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, and a lack of sustainable malaria control programs.
Based on age groups, nearly half of all malaria cases were found among those less than 10 years old.
(Uu.F001/INE)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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