Incidence Of Malaria Cases In Jayapura Drops

Jayapura, Papua, Oct 4 (Antara) - The number people contracting malaria in the Papua provincial city of Jayapura in 2013 has declined significantly, compared with last year, a local health department official pointed out. "Some 26,248 cases of malaria were reported in 2012, but this figure has dropped to 8,312 cases till September 2013," Jayapura health department spokesman Dolarina De Breving revealed on Friday in response to a local media report that had reported that the city of Jayapura was reeling under the effects of the malarial disease. Breving further stated that not only had the number of malaria cases gone down, the incidence of other diseases, such as diarrhea and dengue fever, had also diminished in the area. "There were certainly a lot of malaria, diarrhea and dengue fever cases, but after the Jaypura mayor launched a healthy environment program, the number of such cases dropped sharply this year," she noted. Breving added that the fall in the number of cases was also due to a greater understanding of the need for environmental hygiene among the city`s residents.