Data Analysis of Malaria Monitoring System in 5 Dimensions in Tak Province, Years 2013–2017

Abstract

Malaria was the most important problem of public health in Thailand, especially in boarder zone. Tak province has a boundary with Myanmar that has many businesses from free trade. Moreover, the causes of uncontrolled malaria was the labor movements for agricultural and household labor and the optimal weather for malaria spreading. Malaria was highly dispersed in Tak area, although the province had proactive and reactive strategies and plans for malaria control. This study aimed to analyze malaria surveillance and data monitoring in 5 dimensions by retrospective review of malaria situation in the province between the years 2013–2017. The results found that the main factors associated with the occurrence of malaria in Tak province were types of malaria parasites, mosquito prevalence and the weather condition, particularly the amount of rainwater. Additional factors included the unprotected behavior of people from mosquito bite and limited use of mosquito net, working in the forest, and the labor movement of Thai and foreign people within the province. The highest detection rate of malaria was observed in community malaria centers compared to malaria clinics, community hospitals and the general hospital. Therefore, the increase of the community malaria centers is an important strategy to quickly identify and treat the patients in order to reduce malaria spreading, as it is a mean to interrupt the chain of disease transmission and mitigate the problem of drug resistant.