Indonesia reduces Malaria cases by two-thirds

The number of malaria cases in Indonesia dropped to over 1.1 million in 2009 from about 3 million per year in the past due to appropriate technology in combating the deadly disease, a statement from Health Ministry said on Monday.

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said that among the technology were new anti-malaria drug Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy, Rapid Diagnostic Test tool and mosquito-net equipped with insecticide.

However, the minister said that the current number of malaria cases still resulted in huge financial lost.

"Besides, it can decrease child intelligence, human resources quality and workforce productivity," she said in the statement.

Malaria is still a major health problem in the world, causing high mortality rate among pregnant women and baby.

More than 500 million people in the world are infected by Malaria and over one million of them die each year.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease which is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions.

Malaria is commonly associated with poverty, but is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development.

Source: Xinhua