Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health reported on Thursday that the number of dengue cases in Indonesia in 2023 declined by 30 percent from the previous year.
“In 2023, the cumulative dengue cases in Indonesia were 114,720 cases and resulted in 894 deaths,” said Imran Pambudi, the ministry’s Director of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control, during a talk show on dengue handling in Jakarta.
He said that West Java recorded the highest number of dengue cases in 2023 at 19,328. Central Java recorded the highest number of deaths at 143.
In 2022, as many as 143,176 dengue cases were recorded, along with 1,236 deaths.
He added that 35,556 dengue cases and 290 dengue deaths had been reported as of the 11th week of 2024. The highest number of cases have been recorded in West Java at 10,428, with fatalities pegged at 94.
According to Pambudi, 18 provinces have experienced an increase in dengue cases as of March 2024.
Those provinces are West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Lampung, Bengkulu, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Banten, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, Gorontalo, Southeast Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, and Jakarta.
He said that several challenges have been faced in the handling of dengue, especially the not-yet-optimal community understanding of dengue and the culture of eradicating mosquito nests.
“Moreover, we can see that now, I would say the rain is abnormal: it can continuously rain for three days, and then the weather is hot for four days. This causes puddles from the rain to create breeding places for mosquitoes,” Pambudi explained.
He listed several strategies for handling dengue, including carrying out risk management, increasing access to public services, strengthening surveillance, and involving the community and the government.
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Translator: Mecca Yumna, Raka Adji
Editor: Anton Santoso
