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By Isagani P. Palma, Correspondent
GENERAL SANTOS CITY: This city’s neighboring
province of Sarangani is affected by malaria the “most” in the
Philippines, according to the World Health Organization. It cited
the 90-percent increase in the incidence of the mosquito-borne
disease in the province from 1997-2001 to 2006.
The organization also disclosed that out of the
81 provinces in the country, 59 provinces are malaria-endemic, with
an estimated 11 million Filipinos there at risk.
“Fourteen out of a thousand Filipinos are at
risk from the disease,” said the Global Fund Malaria Project, a
malaria-control program that was established by delegates of the
World Health Organization’s 193 member-countries during the World
Health Assembly in May 2007.
The assembly released statistics on the most
malaria-affected provinces in the Philippines in line with the
commemoration of the 1st World Malaria Day on April 25.
It batted for the annual marking of World
Malaria Day to provide education on and understanding of malaria and
spread information on national malaria-control strategies, including
community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in
endemic areas.
A study by Global Fund Malaria Project said six
malaria-endemic municipalities and 67 endemic barangays (villages)
in Sarangani had caused a 100-percent increase in deaths in the past
years as a result of the spread of malaria there
The Global Fund added that the rising number of
malaria victims arose from insufficient functional diagnostic
facilities (Barangay Malaria Microscopy Centers) and lack of trained
service providers to cater to the needs of more than 250,000
residents.
On Friday, Dr. Antonio Yasana, Sarangani
provincial health officer, presented “gains” of the
malaria-control program in the province before local officials,
municipal health officers, and funding donor Global Fund.
The Provincial Information Office, in a
statement, said Dr. Roberta Romero, the vice president of Tropical
Disease Foundation Inc., had hailed the Sarangani provincial
government for its effective implementation of the malaria-control
program.
The malaria-control program had grouped the 81
provinces in the Philippines based on reported malaria cases per
year.
Global Fund has noted an average of about 1,000
cases or more per year in Apayao, Cagayan, Isabela, and Palawan in
Luzon (the country’s biggest group of islands); and Agusan del Sur,
Davao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao, the
Philippines’ 2nd biggest group of islands.
Collaboration between the Department of Health
and local-government units and with support from Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and Rollback Malaria, access to and
availability of quality diagnostic services, free anti-malaria drugs
for treatment, and distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets
have helped bought malaria down.
In 2006 and 2007, however, there were several
outbreaks in the project provinces.
Provinces with outbreaks in the past year were
Occidental Mindoro, Quezon, and Zambales in Luzon; and Basilan and
Davao del Norte in Mindanao.
“These are the areas that require intensive
surveillance, together with investigation of cases in the
neighboring provinces and municipalities that border these affected
areas,” Global Fund said.
In a bid to control the spread of disease, it
has urged Congress to pass a bill that will stop proliferation of
fake anti-malaria drugs and prohibit over-the-counter sale of such
drugs.
Global Fund has also urged non-government and
faith-based organizations to support the provision of technical
assistance for training, services, and research; and integration of
malaria control to be part of the services of these organizations.
It asked the private sector to support the
building of diagnostic and treatment facilities; promote preventive
measures such as the distribution of insecticide-treated nets and
spraying of houses; and also support information and education
campaigns that target audiences such as indigenous peoples and
schoolchildren and their parents.
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