Health Ministry’s thumbs up to Koraput malaria model

Collector to present the model to dist heads in other states soon

JEYPORE: The Union Health Ministry will use Koraput model of malaria eradication as an example for curbing the vector-borne disease across the country.
 The Ministry has asked the Koraput Collector to present the model to collectors in other parts of the country through video conferencing soon.

Additional District Medical Officer (Public Health), Arun Padhi said Koraput currently figures in the top-10 list of districts successful in bringing down malaria. 

Till a decade back, the tribal dominated district with 14 blocks and four ULBs was one of the highly endemic districts in the State that reported a substantial number of malaria cases. The annual malaria parasite incidence was 27.5 in every 1,000 population here and at least 30 malaria deaths were reported in the district every year.

Following implementation of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), the malaria parasite incidence came down to 7.8 and there was no malaria death in 2018. 
This year so far, the parasite incidence has further come down to 3.5 pc.  The district would achieve zero pc incidence within next one year, Padhi said. Apart from the programmes, almost all the areas were cleaned up under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. 

Awareness programmes have been conducted to sensitise communities on prevention measures. Mosquito nets have also been distributed among all households in the district.
Recently, a team of officials of the Union Health Ministry visited the malaria-prone areas in the district like Dasmantpur, Korpaut, Laxmipur, Narayanpatana, Bandhugam and Koraput to check malaria parasite incidence and found out that there has been a decreasing trend. 

The team reported that the district has successfully implemented NVBDCP and secured a place in the top-10 list of districts that have been successful in bringing the vector-borne disease under control. 
 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com