Climate and Malaria in Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: Some regions in Indonesia still have a problem with malaria, particularly in eastern Indonesia. Notwithstanding, Java island has some regencies that have not reached a target of elimination like in a Menoreh Hill. A factor of climate influences the transmission of malaria vector. A suitable climate eases the vector to breed and is the potential for transmitting disease. Information on climate and malaria endemicity is very beneficial to arrange a policy of malaria control to reach the target of malaria elimination in 2030 in Indonesia. Objective: This study aimed to describing climate and malaria endemicity on Menoreh Hill from 2005 to 2015. Method: This was a descriptive spatial analysis. The unit of analysis was all 43 endemic villages located on Menoreh Hill. Monthly malaria data were collected for 11 years and obtained from health centers. Data on population number per village per year were obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, data of climate were collected from four stations available at the research site. Furthermore, descriptive and spatial analyses were performed using the software of Arc Gis. Data on climate were analysed using an interpolation method of IDW and then were overlaid with malaria cases. Results: The results of this research showed that API on Menoreh Hill tended to increase until the year of 2015. In addition, number of villages with categories of MCI and HCI also rose significantly , especially in Purworejo Regency. The results of interpolation for temperature and rainfall data demonstrated that an area with temperature ranging from 25.0 o C to 26.5 o C and rainfall ranging from 5.6 mm/month to 6.5 mm/month was the most malaria cases.