Matt Conway
ABC Radio Australia
Malaria deaths are up by more than half in Cambodia, and the global economic crisis is getting some of the blame.
The Cambodian health ministry says fatal malaria cases rose by 58 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2008.
Authorities cite possible contributing factors as early rains, and late arrival of mosquito nets from the government for the wet season.
Dr Duong Socheat, director of the national centre of parasitology and malaria, told Radio Australia's Connect Asia: "This year the rains started in April but the nets came out in June, so it was a bit late to protect the people."
Dried up
But significantly, in the financial crisis job opportunities in Cambodia's cities have dried up and that has forced many workers to migrate to remote forest areas on the Cambodia-Thai border, where there is work.
But that is also where there is a higher risk of getting malaria.
Dr Socheat says: "This year we have had a lot of migrants moving from the east to the west, so it is a big problem for the people who don't have the immunity at all for malaria, and they contract malaria very quickly."
It is not just those lacking immunity who are falling victim to the parasite, which may be getting stronger against medication.
Resistance
A study published by the New England Journal of Medicine says malaria parasites in western Cambodia have become resistant to Artemisinin, the drug most commonly used as a first-line treatment.
But Dr Habib Najibullah, from the World Health Organisation in Cambodia, believes more cases are being reported because of better collection of data.
Dr Najibullah says the methods of recording malaria data have improved greatly, meaning more cases are being identified - and that in itself is one reason for the rising figures.
The Cambodian health ministry says fatal malaria cases rose by 58 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2008.
Authorities cite possible contributing factors as early rains, and late arrival of mosquito nets from the government for the wet season.
Dr Duong Socheat, director of the national centre of parasitology and malaria, told Radio Australia's Connect Asia: "This year the rains started in April but the nets came out in June, so it was a bit late to protect the people."
Dried up
But significantly, in the financial crisis job opportunities in Cambodia's cities have dried up and that has forced many workers to migrate to remote forest areas on the Cambodia-Thai border, where there is work.
But that is also where there is a higher risk of getting malaria.
Dr Socheat says: "This year we have had a lot of migrants moving from the east to the west, so it is a big problem for the people who don't have the immunity at all for malaria, and they contract malaria very quickly."
It is not just those lacking immunity who are falling victim to the parasite, which may be getting stronger against medication.
Resistance
A study published by the New England Journal of Medicine says malaria parasites in western Cambodia have become resistant to Artemisinin, the drug most commonly used as a first-line treatment.
But Dr Habib Najibullah, from the World Health Organisation in Cambodia, believes more cases are being reported because of better collection of data.
Dr Najibullah says the methods of recording malaria data have improved greatly, meaning more cases are being identified - and that in itself is one reason for the rising figures.
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