An interview with the secretary of an organization which is providing health care in Chin State about the malaria outbreak.
The incidence of malaria has almost doubled in Chin State, where the military dictatorship revolution is strong, compared to last year, at a time when the revolution has been over 2 and a half years, health workers said.
Six main townships of Chin state have the highest incidence of malaria. Last year, there was no malaria outbreak in Falam Township, and malaria patients are frequently reported in Thantlang and Tongzan Townships.
The Khonumthung Media Group (KMG) interviewed the secretary of an organization which is providing health care in Chin State about the malaria outbreak. (Remark- Due to security reasons, the name of the interviewee and the name of the organization cannot be disclosed.)
Q: Malaria is common in Chin State. What is the situation of the malaria outbreak?
A: In Chin State, malaria is rising to an alarming level. We have received several reports of malaria from Paletwa, Kanpetlet, Mindat and Thantlang during two years of coup. This year, the number of malaria cases has increased by double. From last year to April this year, there have been 450 malaria patients. There are the people who died from malaria. Among the hospitalized patients with cerebral malaria, are the children aged three and pregnant mothers.
Q: What are the reasons for the rising incidence of malaria in Chin State?
A: The reason why the incidence of malaria is increasing is mainly because the public has to flee war. The people have to spend two to three nights in the forests when the military conducts an offensive. Population movement is very high. For instance, Paletwa Township has been suffering from malaria since the beginning. The people from Paletwa Township have fled to other townships due to the offensive. Likewise, the people from the area of Thantlang with the high incidence of malaria moved to other villages. The Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are infected with malaria when they take shelter in the forests. In addition, when they went to other places, malaria was found in areas where there was no malaria before. At a time when this infection is high, the military council is not in a position to carry out malaria prevention activities such as the distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. The restriction of the public’s access to high-quality malaria drugs has delayed the time to cut the transmission chain, and the infection rate is higher.
Q: In which region is the high-infection rate reported in Chin State?
A: The high-infection rate is reported in Thantlang and Hakha in northern Chin State. This year. malaria cases are reported in Falam Township where there was no malaria last year. For instance, all the five people who got sick are tested positive for malaria. Malaria is found among the persons who often travel to these border areas and travel in Tedim and Tongzan Townships. The incidence of malaria is increasing in almost every township in southern Chin State. Many people are found to have malaria in Matupi, Mindat, Kanpetlet and Paletwa Townships from the rainy season till November. Among them, the cases are found mostly in Paletwa, Thantlang, Hakha, Kanpetlet, Matupi and Mindat Townships.
Q: Do the public have easy access to hospitals, clinics and medicine?
A: Most townships in Chin State have to rely on health staff in the townships. Doctors from the plain areas help provide health care in Chin State, after joining the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). There are a lot of Chin doctors in some townships. The people are receiving health care from the NGOs and volunteers who got training in the time of the previous government. In some townships, there are moderate numbers of health workers, but the demand for medicines is not met. The main reason is the township hospitals can no longer operate, and the military council conducts targeted airstrikes and heavy shelling on community-led clinics and hospitals which were operated with the funds donated by the people from home and abroad.
Q: At what age is malaria most common?
A: Malaria cases in Chin State are mostly reported in the age group above 15 years. The incidence of Plasmodium falciparum (PF) malaria is 36 percent; Plasmodium Vivax (PV) malaria, 40 percent; and Mixed Infection (PV and PF), 24 per cent. Malaria cases even among children under 10, are on the rise. The incidence rate among the children under 10 is about 18 percent. This is quite worrying. In Chin State, not only children, but even adults have not been infected with malaria for more than three years.
Before the attempted coup, Thantlang, Hakha, Falam, Tonzang, Mindat and Matupi and Kanpetlet Townships had already implemented the Malaria Elimination Strategy. The incidence of malaria is increasing at an alarming rate. We can say that there is a malaria outbreak. In addition to this, there is a further concern that the patients can’t take anti-malarial drugs as per prescriptions as they don’t get enough drugs. There may be such things. There is a very serious situation about the drug-resistant malaria as they have to take expired medicines and substandard medicines.
Q: What are the difficulties in fighting malaria in Chin State?
A: If we have to talk about the prevention and treatment of malaria, the military council does not even allow the people to carry mosquito nets at the checkpoints. The military council also bans medicines. They strictly check and prevent anything related to malaria. The military council restricts the NGOs so that they can’t distribute malaria drugs. It is very difficult to get malaria medicine locally as the military council is using it as a weapon. Another thing is that in some states, there are cases where even NGO staff working for malaria prevention and control are arrested.
Q: What kind of help do the organizations providing health care in Chin State need to eradicate malaria and treat the public?
A: We need to educate the public about the rising incidence of malaria. If it has been a long time since the incidence of malaria has decreased, we need to tell the public more about whether they should be tested for malaria if they get sick. In order to prevent malaria from getting worse, we need to do more prevention work.
We need to always tell the public to sleep under the mosquito nets when they take shelter in the forests and go to their farms and use mosquito repellent even if they have no mosquito nets.
It is important for health organizations to purchase and distribute only high-quality malaria drugs. It is required to distribute necessary medicines in the areas where malaria is common before the peak period.
Q: What kind of message do you want to convey to the people, including the Chin people from home and abroad, regarding the dire situation of the malaria outbreak in Chin State?
A: There are very few doctors and professional health workers in the villages and even in the cities in Chin State. The practice of easy treatment with nearby quack doctors is still seen. Kidney damage is seen among the young people as quack doctors provide too many steroids, and the young people take too many painkillers in some villages of Thantlang. There is often a delay in diagnosing the disease due to these unqualified doctors. In order to prevent deaths from secondary complications and deaths from the use of substandard medicines, the public is required to receive treatment from well-trained health workers, volunteers and health staff in the region. Malaria is very easy to prevent and treat if medicines are available.
Like covid-19, it is not easily transmitted through the respiratory tract, but because it is a mosquito-borne disease. If you can protect yourself from mosquito bites, you have already prevented the disease. If individuals take such careful precautions, malaria can be reduced as soon as possible. Access to insecticide-treated mosquito nets and medicines is strictly limited, so individual responsibility and prevention is the fastest and most effective way to reduce the incidence of the disease.
Our state is poor, but with the support of the people from home and abroad, we are still able to provide health care to a certain degree. I would like to say thank you to everyone who is helping us. I would like to request you to continue to help those in need through reliable organizations.
Sent by KMG