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India’s goal of eliminating malaria by 2030
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, on April 25 gave the keynote message during the World Malaria Day 2022 commemoration. He advocated for utilising technology and innovation to help develop tailor-made solutions to promote India’s malaria elimination plan and contribute to improved health, quality of life, and poverty alleviation, with the goal of eliminating Malaria from the country by 2030.
“Not only diagnosis and treatment, but swachhta in our personal and community surroundings and social awareness regarding Malaria control and prevention are also equally important in our collective fight against Malaria and for meeting our goal of elimination of Malaria from the country by 2030”, he said during the event. The union minister announced that in order to raise awareness among the general public, railway stations at New Delhi, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, and Nagpur will be illuminated in hues of orange and purple to observe World Malaria Day 2022.
About World Malaria Day
Every year on April 25, the World Health Organization commemorates World Malaria Day to highlight the worldwide malaria community’s joint energy and dedication to achieving the goal of a malaria-free world. World Malaria Day 2022 is being marked under the theme “Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives.”
According to WHO, Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease that has a terrible impact on people’s health and livelihoods all over the world. In 85 countries, there were 241 million estimated new cases and 627 000 fatalities in 2020.
Malaria cases in India
Malaria has been a serious public health issue in India since around 95 percent of the population lives in malaria-endemic areas, where 80 percent of malaria cases recorded are confined to hilly, tribal, inaccessible, and difficult locations. According to the National Health Mission, the trend of Malaria cases in India has exhibited a diminishing trend, with 2 million cases annually in the late nineties, but 0.12 million cases annually in 2020. Setting a major step towards the goal of elimination of malaria, 124 districts in the country have reported ‘zero malaria case’’.
According to the World Malaria Report (WMR) 2020, which provides the projected incidences of malaria around the world based on mathematical forecasts, India has achieved significant progress in reducing its malaria burden. Malaria elimination efforts began in the country in 2015 and were further up after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) in 2016. The Health Ministry announced the National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22) in July 2017, outlining initiatives for the next five years. In the first two years, there was a 27.7% decrease in cases and a 49.5 percent decrease in fatalities, from 11,69,261 cases and 385 deaths in 2015 to 8,44,558 cases and 194 deaths in 2017.
The percentage of decline in the year 2019 as compared to 2018 is as follows: Odisha – 40.35%, Meghalaya- 59.10%, Jharkhand – 34.96%, Madhya Pradesh –36.50%, and Chhattisgarh –23.20%.
Some schemes by Indian states to eradicate malaria
DaMan by Odisha– The Government of Odisha launched a campaign called DaMan- Duragama Anchala Re Malaria Nirakaran in 2017. The indoor residual spray approach is employed under DaMan, and the entire population is tested for malaria. Odisha’s malaria intervention program has resulted in a considerable reduction in the number of cases in the state.
Dastak Abhiyan by Uttar Pradesh– The UP government’s Dastak Abhiyan, which seeks to make the state malaria-free by 2030, has been implemented in one of the country’s largest states. ASHA and Anganwadi workers have been given the job of informing people about the Dastak Abhiyan, which was initiated to curb the spread of infectious diseases such as malaria.