Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and the World Mosquito Program (WMP) Yogyakarta won the Indonesian World Record Museum (MURI) award as a pioneer in research with the technique of using the Wolbachia mosquito to reduce the spread of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF). Prof. Adi Utarini received the award in the talk show Jaya Suprana Show, on January 22.
“We are proud of this award. This research is a collaboration between the Center for Tropical Medicine, UGM FKKMK, and Monash University, and full funding support from the Tahija Foundation for the last ten years. We also thank all parties that have been involved in this research. Hopefully, this innovation can be beneficial for the community,” said Prof. Adi Utarini who is familiarly called Prof. Uut.
Meanwhile, the UGM Chancellor Prof. Panut Mulyono also gave his appreciation for the award. This award is a very proud achievement for UGM. This research has been effective in reducing DHF cases in Indonesia by up to 77 percent. Therefore, he assumed that this research is considered a great contribution to health both in Indonesia and globally. He supported any collaboration, especially with Tahija Foundation, to remain together in the future innovation to solve problems in this country. Besides, he also hoped that the government would also wholeheartedly support this beneficial research for the country.
“I hope other areas other than Yogyakarta are soon able to implement Wolbachia innovation, especially for those with a high number of DHF cases,” he added.
Trihadi Saptoadi, as the Head of Tahija Foundation, was also grateful for being a partner for a great research team that the institution remarkably supported. He was proud to become a part of impactful innovation for the community.
The Wolbachia Application Research in Dengue Elimination (AWED), which ended in August 2020, is the world’s first dengue control study. The study was conducted using the Randomized Controlled Trial method as the best clinical research standard (gold standard).
The research showed that among 50 percent of mosquitoes containing Wolbachia is considered effective to prevent transmission from human to human since Wolbachia here is intended to hinder mosquitoes from generating and replicating.
Last year, WMP Yogyakarta collaborated with the Yogyakarta City Government through the Health Office to prime-release Wolbachia mosquitoes. By the end of December 2020, a result showed that Wolbachia effectively reduced DHF cases for those previous areas. The level of effectiveness reaches up to 60 percent.
Apart from monitoring the results, WMP Yogyakarta also focused on releasing Wolbachia mosquitoes to some other areas in Sleman, collaborating with Sleman’s district government and several health offices.
