Shell invests in program to beat malaria

WHEN PILIPINAS Shell Foundation Inc. arrived in Palawan in 1999 to see how it can contribute in a meaningful way to the province that hosts the Shell-operated Malampaya natural gas production facility, malaria was still largely a mysterious disease.

PSFI executive director Edgardo Veron Cruz said that at that time, an unfortunately high number of Palawan residents who live with the high probability of being infected by the malaria parasite had little knowledge or wrong notions about the potentially fatal consequences of malaria.

Veron Cruz told the Inquirer in an interview that some of the residents of the malaria-infested areas of Palawan had long believed that drinking coconut juice would protect them from malaria.

Others had thought that they should not take a bath at night so they won’t get bitten by the female Anopheles mosquitoes that carry the deadly malaria parasite. Some did not even know how the deadly disease is contracted and how it can be eradicated.

Unsettling reality

That reality was unsettling for PSFI, the social development arm of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., considering that Palawan is the most vulnerable to malaria, as its slow moving streams and clear waters are perfect breeding grounds for the Anopheles mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite.

According to Veron Cruz, Palawan accounts for 40 percent of the confirmed malaria cases in the Philippines. Other provinces with high incidence of malaria are Apayao, Quirino, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Together with Palawan, these top five provinces accounted for 67 percent of malaria cases in the Philippines.

Considering the gravity of the malaria situation in Palawan, where Shell is heavily invested because of the Malampaya natural gas field, it deemed it proper to partner with the provincial government of Palawan and together embarked on a campaign in 1999 called Kilusan Ligtas Malaria (KLM) for Palawan to help control the incidence of malaria in the province.

Funded by Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. and its joint venture partners in Malampaya, the program has been instrumental in the setting up of diagnostic centers in Palawan communities with high incidence of malaria to aid in the early detection and prompt treatment of malaria cases.

Information campaign

At the same time, the program called for the rollout of an extensive information campaign to inform the residents of the dangers of malaria and how it can be detected and stopped in its tracks.

Volunteers were also taught to use the diagnostic equipment and to also preach the benefits of using treated mosquito nets to ward off deadly mosquitoes.

After 11 years of implementation, Veron Cruz says that the program has yielded significant results, with its data showing a 64-percent decline in malaria mortality in the province, mainly through the establishment of microscopy centers in 344 barangays to provide early diagnosis and prompt treatment of malaria.

This achievement did not go unnoticed as the effectivity of KLM in bringing down malaria incidence in Palawan was recognized by its committed partners, including the Department of Health and the World Health Organization.

This also led to PSFI’s securing of a grant in 2006 from The Global Fund to expand the program to include other provinces suffering from malaria.

The Switzerland-based The Global Fund, a global public-private partnership established in 2002, is present in 144 countries to help address AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which are considered three of the world’s most devastating diseases, mainly affecting the poor.

With support from The Global Fund, the KLM has evolved into the Movement Against Malaria (MAM), which also contributes to the fulfillment of one of the eight Millennium Development Goals, which is the reduction of the incidence of malaria and other major diseases all over the world.

Another grant was provided in January 2010 by The Global Fund to expand the program even more, to 40 provinces from five.

The Global Fund grant, Shell says, is “a strong testament to its recognition of PSFI’s strong public-private partnerships and success in the implementation of large-scale programs. The grant likewise puts PSFI at the forefront of the fight against malaria in the Philippines.”

With the MAM continuing to reach new territories, the dream of having a malaria-free Philippines by 2020 may yet become a reality.