Malaria testing and treatment is free for all the people in Thailand including those who are not Thai nationals. Migrant workers that come to Thailand, are normally covered by Thailand’s disease control programme and they get access to malaria clinics. But Shreehari Acharya, Project Manager, Regional Malaria CSO Platform sees the difficulty about access because, “Although the services are free, all mobile migrant populations may not necessarily be able to access them.”
Acharya added “In some malaria high risk border areas there is no internet access, no mobile network, and/or no public transport, making access to health services more difficult. Another barrier to healthcare is faced by those mobile migrant populations who have a language barrier and/or do not have legal documents. They are still not comfortable to go alone to a health facility. They need someone whom they can trust, and who speaks their language, to accompany them. Government health facilities are, at times, understaffed. Hence government staff may not be available to accompany civil society to go to the forests or farms and provide health services to high risk populations.”
However, as Thailand moves towards malaria elimination, Dr Jetsumon Sattabongkot Prachumsri, said: “As malaria cases decline, people’s awareness also declines, especially in areas that were malaria endemic in the past. For example, Kanchanaburi province, used to be malaria endemic with malaria in every district, but now it has very few (less than 30-40) cases and that too not in every district. Youngsters born in a district that now has no more malaria cases do not know about malaria. But the older people might still carry the malaria parasite asymptomatically inside them and be the reservoir of malaria transmission. We cannot let down our guards, otherwise re-emergence could happen.”
“We need to see greater collaboration to improve surveillance, especially along the border sites. As countries are implementing malaria programme with an elimination approach, surveillance becomes more important to prevent re-emergence. We also need more clarity on roles civil society can play in malaria surveillance” added Shreehari Acharya.
Messages on #WorldMalariaDay 2019
Dr Jetsumon Sattabongkot Prachumsri said: “Malaria elimination is possible, if we raise awareness of all the people. Everyone needs to understand that malaria is transmitted by the vector and that some of the people may not have any external symptoms but can still harbour the parasite in their bodies and can transmit malaria. Everyone, especially those living in malaria endemic areas, must be aware and protect themselves from mosquito bite.”
Shreehari Acharya said: “We need to make all malaria and other essential services available as near as possible to the community. Also I think community at the village level is best placed to effectively provide these services, as civil society volunteers or someone trained in the community shuld be able to test and treat malaria unless medical attention is indicated (like malaria in pregnancy or other severe cases require medical care). Government needs to acknowledge the role of civil society in efforts to eliminate malaria. If we look across the region, civil society is playing a pivotal role in partnering with the government in malaria control. We will like to ensure that civil society/ community volunteers are well equipped, trained and have sufficient incentives.”
Shobha Shukla and Bobby Ramakant, CNS (Citizen News Service) 23 April 2019
https://www.citizen-news.org/2019/04/real-talk-are-we-on-track-to-endmalaria.html