VIJAYAWADA: Health Commissioner KVN Chakradhar Babu issued a stern warning to health officials against negligence, laxity, or administrative delays in controlling malaria across the state, emphasising that the government’s primary mandate is proactive disease prevention rather than reactive management after outbreaks occur.
Addressing a comprehensive state-level review workshop in Vijayawada on Tuesday attended by health officials from 28 districts, Commissioner Chakradhar Babu stressed that not a single malaria fatality would be tolerated. He directed field officers to intensify surveillance, particularly in high-risk tribal and remote agency pockets, focusing on early identification, immediate blood testing, prompt treatment, mosquito vector control, and uninterrupted drug stockpiles.
The Commissioner urged officials to fully leverage digital surveillance platforms—including IHIP-IDSP, AWARE, and ADS—to track fever spikes in real time and initiate immediate field interventions.
He ordered active vector control measures, including Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), Integrated Vector Management (IVM), fogging, to be deployed on a war footing in identified hotspots before cases escalate.
Chakradhar Babu directed district medical officials to ensure that reports reflect ground realities rather than paper-level compliance.