BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Tuesday signed an MoU with Malaria Elimination Trust and US-based organisation ‘Malaria No More’ with an aim to to eliminate the vector-borne disease from Odisha by 2030.
‘Malaria No More’ will support the State in devising strategies for expediting community awareness, analysis and correlation of Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran (DAMaN) data with infant mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, malnutrition and other related indices besides advocacy for long lasting insecticidal nets in national and international forums.
The US organisation will also develop prediction models for vulnerable pockets, replicate best practices of Odisha in other countries, support development of multi-sectoral alliance, devise specific strategy for advocacy and mobilise necessary resources for the State’s malaria control programme. ‘Malaria No More’ will also obtain data on the disease from private healthcare providers.
Health Minister Pratap Jena said the collaboration will help the State achieve the target. “I hope this will be a new beginning for spearheading the malaria elimination drive. The US organisation, which has expertise in working globally, especially in African countries, will complement the State in its efforts to eliminate the disease from Odisha”, he said.
Odisha has achieved tremendous success in reducing malaria mortality by 92 per cent and morbidity by 84 per cent in 2018 compared to last year due to use of long lasting insecticidal nets by communities and implementation of DAMaN programme in remote and inaccessible pockets of the State.
“The success has drawn the attention of several national and international organisations including WHO. “Malaria No More through Malaria Elimination Trust had expressed its desire to work in the State for strengthening malaria elimination efforts”, Jena said.
Director of Health Services Dr BK Brahma signed the MoU on behalf of the State Government with CEO of ‘Malaria No More’ Martin Edlund and Trustee of Malaria Elimination Trust Dr Koushik Sarkar. Health Secretary Dr Pramod Meherda was among those present.