Spatiotemporal heterogeneity in malaria transmission across Indonesia: analysis of routine surveillance data 2010-2019
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Published version
Author(s)
Djaafara, Bimandra
Sherrard-Smith, Ellie
Churcher, Thomas
Fajariyani, Sri Budi
Prameswari, Hellen Dewi
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
Indonesia faces challenges in achieving its goal of eliminating malaria by 2030, with cases stagnating between 2015 and 2019. This study analysed regional epidemiological trends and demographic changes in malaria cases from 2010 to 2019, considering differences in surveillance across the country.
Methods
We analysed national and sub-national malaria routine surveillance data using generalised additive and generalised linear models to assess temporal trends in case reporting, test positivity, demographics, and parasite species distribution while accounting for surveillance variations.
Results
After adjusting for increased testing from 2015 onwards, we estimated declining malaria incidence in six of seven Indonesian regions. These regions showed a demographic shift toward older, predominantly male cases, suggesting a transition from household to occupational transmission. In contrast, Papua maintained high transmission with cases concentrated in children. Despite comprising only 2% of Indonesia’s population, Papua’s contribution to national malaria cases rose from 40 to 90% (2010–2019).
Conclusion
While most Indonesian regions progress toward elimination by addressing mobile and migrant populations and P. vivax transmission, Papua shows different patterns with persistently high transmission among children. Achieving nationwide elimination requires enhanced control measures, improved healthcare access, and strengthened multisectoral collaboration to address these region-specific challenges.
Indonesia faces challenges in achieving its goal of eliminating malaria by 2030, with cases stagnating between 2015 and 2019. This study analysed regional epidemiological trends and demographic changes in malaria cases from 2010 to 2019, considering differences in surveillance across the country.
Methods
We analysed national and sub-national malaria routine surveillance data using generalised additive and generalised linear models to assess temporal trends in case reporting, test positivity, demographics, and parasite species distribution while accounting for surveillance variations.
Results
After adjusting for increased testing from 2015 onwards, we estimated declining malaria incidence in six of seven Indonesian regions. These regions showed a demographic shift toward older, predominantly male cases, suggesting a transition from household to occupational transmission. In contrast, Papua maintained high transmission with cases concentrated in children. Despite comprising only 2% of Indonesia’s population, Papua’s contribution to national malaria cases rose from 40 to 90% (2010–2019).
Conclusion
While most Indonesian regions progress toward elimination by addressing mobile and migrant populations and P. vivax transmission, Papua shows different patterns with persistently high transmission among children. Achieving nationwide elimination requires enhanced control measures, improved healthcare access, and strengthened multisectoral collaboration to address these region-specific challenges.
Date Issued
2025-03-05
Date Acceptance
2025-01-23
Citation
BMC Medicine, 2025, 23
ISSN
1741-7015
Publisher
BMC
Journal / Book Title
BMC Medicine
Volume
23
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1186/s12916-025-03902-9
Subjects
Malaria
Indonesia
Spatiotemporal
Elimination
Surveillance
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
136
Date Publish Online
2025-03-05