Post-tsunami malaria in indonesia-the pivotal contributions of permanente physicians.

Editor’s introduction: Permanente in Banda Aceh! When I was providing care for tsunami survivors in a village in northern Indonesia in January 2005, I encountered patients with life-threatening P. falciparum malaria. (A 14-year-old had expired the day before we arrived.) For that reason, I went into the city of Banda Aceh to acquire antimalarial medicines. I was directed to the office of Malaria Emergency Technical and Operational Response (MENTOR) Initiative, a nonprofit organization overseeing the malaria and dengue fever programs. When I entered the office, I was amazed to see that it was a few of my infectious disease colleagues from The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) who were in charge of the malaria program! These Permanente physicians taught medical volunteers how to diagnose and treat falciparum malaria and then, after they were certified, they were provided with testing kits and antimalarial medicines. David Witt, MD, presents this program, which he and his colleagues created—a model for disaster relief strategies. —Lee D Jacobs, Editor veillance systems, funding for medications or pesticides, and for training. In the long term, the MENTOR goal is to have successfully supported a country’s health care providers and governmental structures to enable them to continue the programs after MENTOR personnel have left, thus the double significance of the name “MENTOR.”