We are very grateful that this Wolbachia method exists. Hopefully it will be successful and there will be even more reductions, even if there are no cases of dengue fever, all Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes will be sterile so they will carry Wolbachia.
Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Bali Provincial Government (Pemprov) has implemented a method of spreading Wolbachia mosquito eggs to reduce the threat of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) cases.
“We are very grateful that this Wolbachia method exists. “Hopefully it will be successful and there will be even more reductions, even if there are no cases of dengue fever, all Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes will be sterilized so they will carry Wolbachia,” said Head of the Denpasar City Health Service, Bali, Anak Agung Ayu Candrawati in a written statement in Jakarta, Friday.
For this reason, the Bali Provincial Government is collaborating with Save The Children Indonesia and the Kerti Praja Foundation to prevent dengue fever through education and increasing public awareness of the Wolbachia method.
The enthusiasm and acceptance of the people of Denpasar City and Buleleng Regency for Wolbachia, he said, is quite high, with 95.63 percent of the community supporting the implementation of the Wolbachia method in their environment.
Chief of Partnership, Strategy Program and Operation Save The Children Erwin Simangunsong said that the high enthusiasm of the community was influenced by the family’s previous experience with dengue fever.
Also read: Trials of “Wolbachia”, a dengue virus paralyzer, were carried out in 7 regions
“The number of cases is not just a number, but there are children’s rights to survival and growth and development that are at stake. “This Wolbachia method is a new innovation to prevent dengue cases from continuing to increase, so that children and the community are protected from dengue fever,” he said.
Data from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) records that there will be 131,265 dengue fever cases in Indonesia in 2022, 40 percent of which will occur in children aged 0-14 years, with a total of 1,135 deaths. Meanwhile in Denpasar City, the Health Service recorded 1,305 cases of dengue fever from January-September 2023.
In mid-November 2023, the application of the Wolbachia method will enter the initial period of spreading mosquito eggs in Denpasar City and Buleleng Regency.
Community representatives in Denpasar City and Buleleng Regency have expressed their willingness to participate by becoming foster parents for containers of Wolbachia-infected mosquito eggs.
This Wolbachia method is a breakthrough from the World Mosquito Program (WMP) which has been implemented in 14 countries since 2011, including Indonesia.
Also read: The government is asked to monitor the impact of Wolbachia in controlling dengue
Wolbachia is a natural bacteria found in 50 percent of insects on earth and is declared safe for humans, animals and the environment. This bacteria is able to inhibit the replication of the Dengue Virus in the body of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, thereby reducing the spread of dengue, zika and chikungunya.
In Indonesia, the Wolbachia method was first implemented in the Special Region of Yogyakarta and was proven successful in reducing 77 percent of dengue fever cases and reducing hospital admissions by 86 percent.
The Ministry of Health has also evaluated the results of mosquito distribution in Yogyakarta and stated that there is sufficient evidence to expand the benefits of Wolbachia to protect Indonesian people from dengue fever.
Through the Decree of the Minister of Health (Menkes) Number 1341 of 2022, the Wolbachia method has been implemented in five cities, namely Semarang, West Jakarta, Bandung, Kupang and Bontang.
Also read: Ministry of Health scatters Wolbachia mosquito eggs in Kupang to tackle dengue fever
2023-11-03 10:20:55
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