Malaria Early Warning System established in Solomon Islands

By Mr. Francis Talasasa

Nuku’alofa, Tonga - Solomon Islands is the first Pacific island nation to set up a Malaria Early Warning System.

The Director of Solomon Islands Meteorological Service, Mr. David Hiriasi said the Malaria Early Warning System module was introduced on the main island of Guadalcanal.

“The malaria early warning system was created basically to give information to the people about updates or warnings about malaria in concentrated areas. The initiative started in 1998 with the idea to monitor and control the spread of the disease,” said Mr. Hiriasi.

With the support of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health, the Malaria Early Warning System was set up.

“The module itself depends on data’s collected by health authorities from medical records of infected patients. The meteorological service then receives the records on a monthly basis and evaluates it against rainfall.”

“The information prepared is then categorised to a low, medium or high risk category before it is delivered to health authorities to use in their programs against malaria,” said Hiriasi.
The target is to create possibilities to eradicate malaria or to decrease the number of malaria infection.- #PacMC2015

Mr. Francis Talasasa is a reporter for the Island Sun in the Solomon Islands.

This article was developed by a Pacific Media Team of Reporters currently providing coverage on the Third Pacific Meteorological Council in Tonga. This activity coordinated by SPREP is supported by a partnership including the Government of Tonga, SPREP, Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS).