SAMBALPUR: The Sambalpur district administration is gearing up for a Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign to prevent lymphatic filariasis, scheduled from August 10 to August 19. A coordination meeting of the task force, chaired by Sambalpur collector Akshay Sunil Agrawal, was held late on Monday to plan the campaign’s implementation.
The district’s strategy involves a two-pronged approach: preventive chemotherapy through the annual MDA to interrupt disease transmission, and morbidity management and disability prevention to alleviate suffering among affected individuals. Drugs will be administered at doorsteps, fixed sites, or drug depots, primarily by ASHAs.
Mobile teams will handle administration in schools, offices, industries, prisons, and other special locations. Each drug administrator will cover a population of 250, with houses and individuals marked after consumption. Additionally, the task force addressed strategies for malaria and dengue prevention.
The meeting also reviewed the district’s malaria epidemiology from 2016 to 2023. Notably, in 2016, 1,43,248 tests resulted in 12,046 confirmed cases and one death. By 2023, testing numbers rose to 1,43,852 with 161 confirmed cases and no deaths recorded from 2017 to May 2024. In 2024, up to May 24, 59,084 tests yielded six cases, with no fatalities.
For 2024, malaria and dengue prevention efforts will focus on the T3 strategy — test, treat, and track. The task force plans daily reporting on vector-borne diseases, ensuring complete treatment of malaria cases, and conducting mass screenings for fever cases when a positive case is detected. Malaria screenings will also be conducted twice a year in all tribal residential schools, and the Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakarayan Abhiyan (DAMaN) will be implemented in high-endemic villages. The district health department will also use patient cards and case investigation formats for effective monitoring.
The collector instructed all the line departments to carry out their assigned duties for prevention of malaria, dengue and lymphatic filariasis.
Among others, SMC commissioner Ved Bhusan, CDO-cum-EO zilla parishad, Dharmendra Mallick, CDMPHO, Dr Sujata Rani Mishra, DPHO, Dr Ashok Kumar Das besides ADPHOs Dr Suchitra Sahoo and Dr PC Biswal were present.
Test, Treat, and Track strategy to focus for 2024
Daily reporting on vector-borne diseases
Complete treatment of malaria cases ensured
Mass screening of fever cases in case a positive case is reported
Malaria mass screening to be conducted in all tribal residential school twice a year
Implementation of DAMaN in high endemic villages
The health department will also implement of patient card and case investigation format for effective monitoring of patients