2) Goodbye to Australia's dangerous delusion
------------------------------------------------------
1) Malaria cases in Nabire have dropped dramatically
Published 4 hours ago on 30 October 2018
By pr9c6tr3_juben
The figure of malaria case or Annual Parasite Incidence (API) in Nabire Regency reportedly continued to decline in the last three years. A data compiled from all community health centres and private laboratories in Nabire indicates that by June 2018, the malaria case is only 13,36% compared to 71% in 2015.
Based on this data, the Nabire Health Office is confident be able to contribute to accomplishing the elimination of malaria by 2028 for Papua Province and by 2030 for Indonesia.
Yenni Derek, the manager of malaria control program of the Nabire Regional Health Office, said the API number of 13.36 % indicates the number of Annual Blood Examination Rate (ABER) or the averaged number of examined patients (178.44%) and the Slide Positivity Rate (SPR) of malaria (7.488%).
If the national figure shows 1 SPR per 1,000 populations, which means of 1,000 people, only one is malaria positive. Therefore, in Nabire, there are 14 malaria positives amongst 1,000 inhabitants. “The API is obtained by adding up the total of malaria cases and then divide it with the number of the population before multiplying it with 1,000,” Derek explained to Jubi on Wednesday, 24 October 2018.
The Regional Health Office, said Derek, continues to reduce these numbers through ongoing programs, such as the distribution of mosquito nets and community counselling. The office also established the Nabire Center for malaria control management and conducted training for the Participatory Learning Action (PLA) facilitators by involving the village community.
Derek further explained that there are a few sub-districts of 15 such as Moora, Menou and Dipa, where the malaria cases rarely found. The reason is these sub-districts have less population compared to others. So, the number of malaria cases is also affected by the number of people, despite the environment and lack of awareness, especially on the lifestyle.
She also said for the last three years, the Regional Health Office and the community health centre has conducted a regular check-up, public awareness campaign and the distribution of mosquito nets.
“However, I believe that people nowadays have become more aware and understand the importance of this issue. We observe that currently they already use the nets distributed by our officers,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Head of Disease Control and Eradication Division (P2P) of the Nabire Regional Health Office, dr. Frans Sayori said that all health service units (Yankes) must control malaria by providing the Anti-Malaria Medication (OAM).
“If someone feels a fever, do not immediately give them other medications. Firstly, you should examine the blood of patients first because fever does not mean malaria,” he said.
Moreover, he said the participation of community and stakeholders such as the private sector and the government should work together for several reasons. “The local government agencies such as the Public Works Office, the Environmental Service Office, should collaborate to provide the clean water, sanitation and clean environment. So it’s not a responsibility of a certain agency,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of Technical Unit for AIDS-TB-Malaria of the Papua Provincial Health Office dr. Beeri Wopari said Malaria Center for Meepago indigenous area is in Timika. It was established as a coordination centre, not for a centre to control and prevent malaria.
“It’s only for coordination. According to the policy of the Ministry of Health and the Papua Governor’s Regulation on malaria control, it divides per indigenous territory, and for Meepago, it’s base is in Timika,” he said.
To lead to malaria elimination goal for Papua in 2028, he said, it needs cross-sectoral cooperation between the government agencies and private institutions as well as the participation of the community.
“We have met and coordinated in the meeting involved all relevant stakeholders in Meepago customary area some time ago in Timika,” he said.
According to Wopari, the leading units, namely village chiefs, communities and families should initiate such efforts to accelerate malaria control. Then it goes up to the level of sub-districts, regency and province. They all are needed to facilitate the malaria control program.
“So we use the bottom up method to facilitate the malaria control and work together with the community and relevant stakeholders to ensure the program achievement. Therefore we need to be integrated into one coordination to reduce the malaria cases in Papua regions,” he said.
“We should know what does the contribution from the community, what does the role of the government. If we want to achieve the malaria elimination goal, the community should have their action plan; therefore the health officers know their problems,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Nabire resident Suyono admitted the malaria prevalence in Nabire has reduced. Twenty years ago, he arrived in Nabire and had malaria frequently, but now the disease has never reoccurred.
“I often had malaria when I arrived here twenty years ago. Mosquitos were everywhere perhaps It was still a dense forest,” he said.
He admitted that at that time there was no malaria eradication program and people also less aware of the clean environment and there are also no free mosquito nets.
“Well, that’s the situation in the past. However, I see people rarely have malaria this day,” he said. (*)
Reporter: Titus Ruban
Editor: Pipit Maizier
————————————————
2) Goodbye to Australia's dangerous delusion
By Peter Hartcher 30 October 2018 — 12:00am
Australia has wasted most of the last decade under the delusion that it could sit passively and "balance" between the US and China. One of the reasons that this is such a dangerous idea is that it encourages the inherent Australian temptation to succumb to a complacent inertia.
The main political parties have awoken to the need to shore up Australia's strategic hinterland, otherwise known as the Pacific.
It's not like a world-scale episode of MasterChef where Australia can sit back and see what delicious offerings the Americans and Chinese are going whip up for us, and "balance" a morsel from one against another while judging the winner.
It is plain that Donald Trump's America cannot be trusted to respect the interests of its allies. It is equally plain that the Chinese Communist Party cannot be trusted. How do you "balance" between the unpalatable and the indigestible?
Today we see a growing realisation that Australia needs to get active to create its own future.
Bill Shorten's Monday speech to the Lowy Institute was an important moment. It showed that both main political parties have awoken to the need to shore up Australia's strategic hinterland, otherwise known as the Pacific.
The Coalition government was slow to wake up to China's program of influence through the Pacific, but it woke up eventually. It hasn't issued a declaratory policy statement to point out the fact, but it's been working to check China's moves one by one since.
Three quick examples. One. When the Turnbull government discovered that Chinese firm Huawei was going to build an underwater internet cable from the Solomon Islands to Australia, it realised the risk of allowing a Chinese entity to plug in to the mainland's arteries. Australia muscled Huawei out and offered $136 million in aid funding to connect the Solomons itself. The cable will also connect Papua New Guinea to Australia.
Two. When Australia learned that the Chinese government was interested in redeveloping four ports in PNG, it quickly stepped in and struck an agreement with the Port Moresby government to enlarge the most militarily important of the ports, the one on Manus Island, into a joint Australian-PNG facility.
Three. When Australia saw that China was getting involved in plans for a regional military training centre for all Pacific Island nations through an upgrade of an army camp in Fiji, Malcolm Turnbull personally negotiated to make Australia the sole foreign donor.
Each is an Australian counter to a Chinese move. It's effective but it's not the best way to do it. Apart from anything else, it says to the Pacific states that Australia doesn't actually care about the people of the Pacific. It says, loud and clear, "we only care about you as a chessboard where we counter China's moves".
On Monday the Opposition Leader set out Labor policy as one based on "partnership, not paternalism". The Pacific would be "front and centre" of Labor's foreign policy, not flyover territory.
"We’re talking about a collection of partner nations in an ocean larger than all of earth’s landmass combined - I’ve heard some Pacific Leaders call it ‘the Blue Continent’," Shorten said.
"We will not define our Pacific neighbours by their smallness in size and population but by the greatness of the ocean they are custodians of – and that we share with them."
He said Labor would not only increase aid funding but also create a new infrastructure bank for the Pacific, to "actively facilitate concessional loans and financing for investment in these vital, nation-building projects through a government-backed infrastructure investment bank." His aim? "To make sure" the countries of the Pacific "look to Australia first" as their partner of choice.
Shorten posed it as a project to care for the Pacific peoples rather than the strategic needs of Australia: "Otherwise, within a decade, the 10 million people living across the Pacific islands will be living in some of the least developed nations on the planet."
This is exactly the right way to frame Australia's approach. To help the Pacific reach its potential. It's also self-interested, of course. Would we want a string of disease-ridden failed states to our north, available to China as military bases, or to the terrorists of Daesh as training camps, or to criminal syndicates seeking bases to trafficking in people, drugs and arms? Bill Shorten said: "Our goal will not be the strategic denial of others but rather the economic betterment of the 10 million people of the Pacific islands themselves." The beauty of this approach is that it can achieve both at once.
Labor also has an inherent advantage over the Coalition in its Pacific policy. Three of the Pacific states are literally sinking beneath a rising ocean. Labor can truthfully say that it has better credentials in taking climate change seriously. There are no known photos of Shorten fondly cradling lumps of coal in the House of Representatives.
Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands program director, Jonathan Pryke, said recently that despite China’s growing influence in the region, Pacific leaders preferred to work with Australia rather than China.
“The reality is that the Pacific also wants Australia to be the partner of choice in the region,” he said. “We are more familiar, and they have more power in the relationship. It just needs a lot of work on the Australian side to maintain our position.” Or, better yet, to get ahead of the game.
Peter Hartcher is international editor.
------------
