Drug resistant malaria along the Thai Cambodian border

photo from IRIN

IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports "Health officials warn that an ongoing border dispute and subsequent military build-up along the Thai-Cambodian frontier could undermine global efforts to contain drug-resistant malaria, citing limited access for surveillance, early diagnosis and treatment".
As if the pandemic potential for drug resistant malaria was already not severe enough, the struggle over ownership of an 11th century Hindu temple could make it worse.  I remember that in the 1980s, the fighting between the Peruvian government and Shining Path guerrillas made it nearly impossible for health workers distributing polio vaccine to get to some remote villages.  I remember how angry it made me to learn of the cases of polio that developed, completely unnecessarily, because of that.
Now, in 2011, how many deaths due to malaria will result because of the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia.  I'm convinced that, if they so choose, the politicians on both sides could settle this dispute.  For political reasons, they let the games continue.  What better way to keep the people's attention on something other than the deficiencies of their governments than to keep them riled up about the "invasions" by a neighboring country?