Malaria in the Borderlands of Papua Province of the Republic of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Background: Malaria remains a disease that has a high prevalence rate in Papua province of Indonesia especially in the borderland between the Republic of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Malaria control program should be carried out in the borderlands to reduce the prevalence of malaria in the region more broadly. The purpose of this study is to determine the incident of malaria and to understand how socio-demographic factors measured at individual and village levels are associated with individual’s probability of contracting malaria. This research also illustrates the level of knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of border communities about malaria.

Methods: This research is an initial step towards a more comprehensive program to eradicate malaria on the border of the Republic of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Data were obtained from the Skouw Health Center from January to July 2018. The chi square is used as an analytical tool to calculate the odds ratio and the significance of age, sex, and village of residence on the contraction of malaria. In addition, questionnaires about knowledge, attitudes, and behavior about malaria were distributed to 70 respondents who were willing to fill in the questionnaire.

Results: The research shows that the age range of 13-22 years has the highest infection rate of malaria, with an incident of 40%. Based on sex, men have twice incidents (33%) than those of women. With respect to locations, Skouw Mabo village has the highest incidents of malaria among the four villages. Knowledge (68%), attitude (79%), and behavior (73%) of respondents to malaria are quite high. However, related to the causes of malaria (52.86%), the risk of malaria in pregnant women (47.14%) and the risk of not taking medication not according to the doctor's instructions (7.14%) are still low. Good knowledge will improve people's attitudes and behavior.

Conclusions: Malaria is still a disease with a high incidence in the Border Region of the Republic of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The malaria elimination program that will be implemented in this area needs to focus on characteristics that have a higher malaria incidence rate.