BHUBANESWAR : The state government on Monday wrote to the Centre raising concern over ‘delay’ in supply of 1.56 crore long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) to curb malaria cases in the state.
Health and Family Welfare minister Niranjan Pujari in a letter to Union Health and Family Welfare minister Mansukh Mandaviya requested to look into the matter and expedite the supply of the insecticidal nets to the state without further delay.
Pujari said the Centre had supplied 1.56 crore LLIN to Odisha in the year 2020-21 which had protected the highly vulnerable population from malaria infection and subsequently led to a remarkable decline in malaria caseload in the state.
The minister, however, pointed out that the efficacy of the LLIN is for three years and in 2023, these LLINs were due for replacement by the Centre. The same has now been delayed unduly by nearly a year, which has made the state vulnerable to an increase in malaria cases, Pujari stated.
“Under such circumstances, it is requested to kindly look into the matter for immediate supply of 1.56 crore LLINs to the state of Odisha to prevent a further rise in malaria caseload and to sustain the efforts made by the state in the reduction of the malaria burden in the country,” Pujari wrote.