(Beritaregion-Kupang) Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin started a dengue fever (DBD) prevention program using Wolbachia technology in Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara,
This method can inactivate the dengue virus in the Aedes aegypti mosquito so that it can prevent transmission of dengue cases.
According to the Communications and Public Services Bureau, Indonesian Ministry of Health, Wolbachia is a bacteria that can grow naturally in insects, especially mosquitoes. Wolbachia bacteria can paralyze the dengue virus in the Aedes aegypti mosquito so that it cannot be transmitted to humans.
In this program, Wolbachia bacteria are introduced into the eggs of the Aedes aegypti mosquito so that it does not transmit the dengue virus.
The next step for handling dengue fever, the Ministry of Health, will distribute buckets containing mosquito eggs containing Wolbachia bacteria to local residents in Kupang City.
As a pilot, the implementation of Wolbachia will be carried out in Oebobo District, Kupang City, NTT, because the morbidity rate is the highest and the population density is the highest.
Residents care for mosquito eggs for two weeks until they hatch. Apart from mosquito eggs, residents will also be given food.
The Wolbachia mosquito eggs were distributed from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Yogyakarta and were bred by the Entomology study program, Faculty of Biology.
The weekly requirement, especially for Oebobo District, is 700 thousand eggs. Then, the city of Kupang as a whole needs 2.6 million Wolbachia mosquito eggs every week.
It is hoped that within one year the population of Wolbachia mosquitoes will reach 80% of the Aedes aegypti mosquito population.
Minister of Health Budi said that Wolbachia technology was the result of UGM research and was used by Brazil, Vietnam and Australia.
Pak Budi said “We see that this (Wolbachia) is good, that’s why we are doing a pilot project in 4 districts/cities, and Kupang is one of them.”
Public education is very much needed. The implementation of Wolbachia does not involve reducing the number of mosquitoes but increasing the number of mosquitoes that contain Wolbachia bacteria.
“Hopefully with this pilot project the number of dengue infections can be reduced,” said Minister of Health Budi.
Director General of Disease Prevention and Management, Ministry of Health, Dr. Maxi Rein Rondonuwu said the aim of this launching was to obtain a joint commitment between the central and regional governments in controlling dengue in Indonesia, especially in Kupang City in making the pilot project for implementing Wolbachia a success as a dengue control innovation.
“All relevant agencies, both central and regional, must be committed to implementing Wolbachia,” said Director General Maxi.
The signing of the commitment to implement Wolbachia was carried out by Director General Maxi and Acting Mayor of Kupang Fahrensy P. Funay.
Fahrensy explained that the Kupang City government welcomed this wolbachia program.
In September 2023, 187 cases of dengue fever were recorded with 2 deaths in Kupang City. In 2022, the number of dengue fever cases reported will be 445 cases. Dengue fever is still a health problem every year due to the large number of cases with high death rates.
“The Kupang City Government is making strong efforts to take steps to overcome dengue fever, including the Wolbachia program which we fully support,” said Fahrensy.
Acting Governor of NTT Ayodhia GL Kalake added that all districts/cities in NTT are endemic areas and every year there is always an outbreak. In 2022 there will be 3,376 cases with 29 deaths. The highest cases were in West Manggarai, Southwest Sumba, Kupang City and West Sumba.
“The implementation of Wolbachia is not yet very familiar to some people in NTT. “However, by selecting the City of Kupang, it is hoped that it can increase the understanding of the NTT community about wolbachia,” said Ayodhia.
The implementation of Wolbachia received full support from the deputy chairman of Commission 9 of the DPR RI, Melkiades Laka Lena. He said Commission 9 supports various policies of the Minister of Health and staff to tackle various health problems including dengue.
“We hope that we can educate the public to understand dengue disease well, then also reduce fear of this disease and can invite everyone to work together to overcome dengue,” said Melki.
2023-10-25 16:37:30
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