REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, AMBON -- Five of the 11 districts and municipalities in Maluku province have worked hard to suppress the number of Malaria Annual Parasite Incidence (API) to below five percent, stated Governor Said Assagaff.

"Through hard work, five of the 11 districts and municipalities have been able to suppress the Malaria API to below five percent per thousand population," the governor claimed here on Tuesday.

He pointed out that the five successful ones are the cities of Tual and Ambon, and the districts of Buru, South Buru, and West Southeast Maluku, while in six others the incidence of malaria is still high.

According to the governor, the people in Maluku are still at risk of contracting the malaria infection. In 2010, the Malaria API was recorded at 10.37 percent, but in 2013, the percentage reduced to 8.25 percent per thousand population.

Although the percentage has dropped, Governor Said Assagaff noted that the figure was still far from the set target of one percent per thousand population.

"Therefore, the health and social issues in Maluku should be jointly addressed by all the public elements in the province," the governor remarked.

He called on all the district heads and city mayors to jointly cooperate in improving health services in their respective districts and cities, particularly in the areas where the annual incidence of malaria diagnosed is still high.

Governor Said Assagaff hoped to make several districts and cities in the province malaria-free in the next one or two years.

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