THE Myanmar Medical Association visited six townships throughout the country last month to update general practitioners about the latest methods for treating malaria.

Doctors from the association’s quality diagnosis and standard treatment for malaria project visited Myitkyina in Kachin State, Monywa in Sagaing Division, Kengtung and Kalaw in Shan State, and Myeik and Kawthaung in Tanintharyi Division.

The project’s manager, Dr Chit Soe, said they met about 25 general practitioners in each township during the visits, under a collaborative effort involving the association, the Health Department’s National Malaria Control Program, and the World Health Organisation.

“The main aim was to make general practitioners aware of standardised malaria treatment therapy involving artemisinin-based combination therapy,” said Dr Chit Soe, who is also the professor of the Department of Medicine at the University of Medicine (2).

Other topics covered by the meetings included the use of rapid diagnostic test kits, the national anti-malaria policy and the national and global impact of the disease.

“Some townships were chosen because they have a high morbidity rate and some because they are in remote or border areas,” Dr Chit Soe said. He said the presence in some townships of migrant workers was creating challenges for malaria control because of their mobility and their failure to complete courses of treatment, which resulted in them becoming resistant to malaria drugs.

Myitkyina and Kawthaung are on a Department of Health list of the 100 townships which recorded the highest average malaria morbidity rates between 2001 and 2005. The list shows that Myitkyina and Kawthaung recorded rates of 38.30 and 27.11 for every 1000 people respectively.

“So, it is important for general practitioners to give effective treatment according to the national malaria treatment guidelines and their participation will help to reduce drug resistant cases and morbidity rates,” he said.

Dr Chit Soe said some general practitioners were still not using combination drug therapy.

The national anti-malaria treatment policy, adopted in 2002, aims to provide safe, rapid and effective treatment against the disease and to prevent the development of drug resistance among patients.