GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The entire South Cotabato province is now malaria-free.
Jose Barroquillo, malaria program coordinator of the Integrated Provincial Health Office, said Thursday this development was based on the result of a recent evaluation conducted by experts from the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
He said the DOH’s malaria technical working group and WHO representatives mainly affirmed that the province has not recorded a single indigenous case of malaria since 2012.
“We had zero case of locally-transmitted malaria in the last five years so we’re now considered malaria-free,” he said.
Barroquillo said the province’s formal declaration as malria-free will be made during the scheduled provincial health summit in November.
According to the DOH, a province may be declared as malaria-free if it sustains zero incidence of indigenous case of the disease for five consecutive years.
Such declaration is made by the DOH and the WHO, which has been supporting the national government’s malaria eradication program.
Barroquillo attributed the accomplishment to the local government’s sustained efforts against the disease these past years.
He specifically cited the regular malaria border operations spearheaded by the IPHO in the province’s boundary areas with Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani that were considered endemic to the disease.
"This is not only a successful journey for the provincial government but to all malaria warriors -- local residents, barangay and town officials, partner organizations and health workers as well," he said.
The province was adopted by the DOH as among the focal areas for the malaria eradication program following an outbreak in 2005 in Barangay Ned in Lake Sebu. Another major outbreak in the area came in 2007 that downed 80 people, mostly T’boli tribal folks.
From 584 in 2004, the indigenous cases of malaria in the province went down to only two in 2011 or a reduction of 99.66 percent.
Barroquillo said the local government is committed to sustain the area’s malaria-free status with the continuing support from its partners, which included the Global Fund and Pilipinas Shell Foundation.
"We will continue with these strategies as we face the bigger task of maintaining a clean record for malaria," he added.(PNA)
* Stay at Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at
www.wirenine.comLinkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=110282.0
