BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s double-engine government has a challenge at hand when it comes to implementation of malaria-control programme in the state.
The sustained efforts to reduce the malaria burden from the highest-ever 4.44 lakh cases in 2016 to 23,770 in 2022, are slowly but steadily failing with an alarming rise in malaria positive cases in 2023 and till June this year.
Despite repeated reminders from the state government, no tangible step has been initiated by the Centre to provide 1.56 crore long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), a major intervention in curbing malaria in the state.
Source said malaria cases are on an upward spiral in Odisha as the LLINs distributed more than four years back are either damaged or have lost insecticidal efficacy. If fresh nets are not distributed, the state may not achieve the goal of eliminating malaria by 2030 as set by the Centre under its National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME).
With the Health and Family Welfare department scouting for insecticide-treated nets for the last over a year, Odisha has reported 18,383 malaria cases, the highest among states till June. Among the high caseload districts, Rayagada recorded 3,712 cases, followed by Koraput (3,522), Kandhamal (3,090), Kalahandi (3,018) and Malkangiri (1,890).
As per the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control, malaria cases in the state almost doubled last year as compared to 2022. The state registered 41,971 cases and four deaths in 2023 against 23,770 cases and five deaths in 2022. With nearly four per cent of India’s population, Odisha had contributed around 18.7 per cent to the country’s malaria tally last year.
Health experts said Odisha’s hot and humid climatic conditions provide conducive environment for malaria transmission. The state had introduced Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran (DAMaN), a multi-component malaria intervention that had brought down the cases. LLIN was a major factor in this intervention. The nets distributed in 2019 needed to be replaced by the end of 2022. However, these are yet to be replaced, they said.
Sources said though the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had floated bids for procurement of LLINs last year, it could not materialise due to single tender. The delay in finalisation of tenders again this year has resulted in the crisis and if this situation persists, it will take another three to four months to get the nets from the Centre.
Health secretary Shalini Pandit said the state government has started procuring insecticidal nets on its own due to the delay in supply from the Centre. “The consignment is expected to reach next month. The nets will be distributed in high caseload districts,” she told The New Indian Express.
