43 malaria cases recorded in 5 NCotabato towns since January

KIDAPAWAN CITY—At least 43 malaria cases were monitored in at least five towns in North Cotabato since January, according to reports from the Movement Against Malaria (MAM). MAM project officer Maria Elvy Dominicata said malaria cases are also monitored in towns of Carmen, Banisilan, President Rojas, and in Kabacan. These towns have slow-flowing streams and many of the villagers are transient. MAM is a group attached to the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) in North Cotabato. In 2009, at least 234 cases were monitored in the province, about 12 percent lower than that in 2008. Of this number, 131 were from Carmen, 32 in Banisilan, 23 in President Roxas, 21 in Tulunan, nine in Arakan, five in Aleosan, two in Alamada, and one each in Makilala, Matalam, Midsayap, and Pikit. But while malaria, one of the world’s most common diseases caused by a parasite that is transmitted to humans by a female mosquito, is considered deadly, it can be prevented, according to Dominicata. “This is where we come in. We are more on the prevention to contain the spread of the disease," she said. On Wednesday, Dominicata’s team went to the villages of Kiaring and Puting Bato in Banisilan town and Malapag in Carmen town where they conducted orientation on the use of indoor residual spraying to kill mosquitoes that rest on the walls and roofs of houses. They also distributed long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets in President Rojas and Barangay Bacung in Tulunan town. The indoor residual spraying and distribution of nets in affected towns in North Cotabato will reduce transmission of the disease by controlling the malaria-bearing mosquitoes, said Dominicata. The activities were part of the celebration of the declaration of April 25 as World Malaria Day. The 25th of April is a day of unified tribute of the global effort to provide effective control of malaria around the world. - Malu Cadelina Manar/KBK, GMANews.TV