BHUBANESWAR: The Centre has lauded the efforts of Odisha Government to curb killer malaria in the State.The appreciation came days after World Health Organisation (WHO) commended the State’s efforts in bringing down cases of malaria positive and death in the recent years.Union Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Preeti Sudan has congratulated her State counterpart Dr Pramod Kumar Meherda and his team for achieving the biggest decline of over 84 per cent (pc).
Odisha has achieved the highest decline by adopting a new collaborative initiative which has strengthened malaria control interventions in inaccessible areas. The intensified malaria control programme, Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran (DAMaN) led by Comprehensive Case Management Programme (CCMP), has brought down the positive cases drastically.
In order to achieve the goal of malaria elimination by 2030, the Centre has launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME). The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) is also implementing the National Strategic Plan (2017-2022) for malaria with defined strategies for prevention of the disease depending on the endemicity across the country.
There has been a 55 pc decline in malaria cases and 66 pc decline in falciparum malaria from January to October this year, as compared to the corresponding period in 2017 in the country.“It gives immense pleasure to share the remarkable decline of malaria in the last two years. While malaria cases have significantly declined by 22.32 pc in the country in 2017, the biggest decline of 84 pc has been observed in Odisha. I congratulate your team for contributing to the national efforts,” Sudan wrote to Dr Meherda.
The progress in malaria control in Odisha has been quoted as one of the best models in the recently released World Malaria Report 2018.