BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has decided to go for malaria elimination programme in eight districts.
The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary A P Padhi.
The three districts where total elimination stage for malaria eradication will commence comprised Puri, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur.
Other five districts - Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, Cuttack and Khurda - will undergo pre-elimination phase, an official said.
"Conditions have improved significantly in eight costal districts where Annual Parasite Incidence (API) per 1000 population is less than 1," Madan Mohan Pradhan, Joint Director Health, said.
Pradhan said the DAMAN (Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran) scheme, a programme of the state government, is an innovative and integrated approach for control and prevention of malaria.
The implementation of the DAMAN scheme would be stepped up in 8 districts which have reported more than 10 API.
These districts include Gajpati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabrangpur, Nuapada and Rayagada.
"An amount of Rs 25 cr has been estimated for the purpose," Pradhan said adding that the services to be provided include diagnosis, treatment, intensive mass awareness, behavioural change communications, haemoglobin test, nutrition test and supply of medicines.
This apart, the state government has also decided to set up 25 entomological units in various districts including 5 municipal corporations to treat malaria and other vector-borne diseases including dengue and chikangunia.
"It was also decided that around 1.52 core insecticide-treated long lasting nets (LL) would be procured from Global Fund for TB, AIDS and Malaria (GFTAM) control through Centre within 6 months. This would meet present requirement of the state," they said.