Karnataka that is at the forefront of malaria control has been elevated from Category II (pre-elimination phase) to Category I (elimination phase). The Union Health Ministry has issued a certificate of appreciation to Karnataka on the occasion of world Malaria Day observed on April 25.
States and Union Territories with an Annual Parasite Incidence (API) of less than one case per 1,000 population at risk and some districts reporting an API of one case per 1,000 population have been classified as Category 2 states. Karnataka that was under Category 2 has now been elevated to Category 1.
Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar, who tweeted about this, said: “It gives me great satisfaction to announce that Karnataka has been elevated to ‘Category 1’ by @MoHFW_INDIA for making significant strides towards Malaria elimination! Heartfelt thanks to all health workers and official machinery for this remarkable achievement!”
Susanta Kumar Ghosh, former scientist and head, field station of ICMR- National Institute of Malaria Research in Bengaluru, said Karnataka was endemic for malaria, contributing 7% to 10% of total malaria cases in India during 1990’s. “Several attempts have been made to contain this disease. In 2016, India launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) aiming to eliminate malaria from 2016 to 2030,” he said.
“Dakshina Kannada and Udupi together contributed over 80% of the total malaria cases in Karnataka. The rural malaria transmission mostly transmitted by Anopheles culicifacies was greatly contained by large-scale deployment of larvivorous fish initiated by the ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), Bengaluru since 1992. First ICMR-NIMR demonstrated in Kolar and subsequently in Hassan, Tumakuru, Chikkamagaluru and Chitradurga. Later, this programme was extensively deployed by the State Health Department,” he said.
“But the main problem remained in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi towns. Here, the main urban vector is Anopheles stephensi. However, smart disease surveillance including vector control activities were intensified with the development of an innovative handheld GPS-tagged device. This helped in containing the disease transmission” Dr. Ghosh said.
Speaking at an event organised by BMCRI to mark World Malaria Day, Mr. Sudhakar exhorted health officials to take it as a challenge and make Karnataka malaria-free by 2027, three years before the Union Government target of 2030.
“The Union Government has a target of making India malaria-free by 2030 and already 10 districts in Karnataka have not seen even a single malaria case in the past three years. The credit goes to Health Department officials, staff and ASHA workers,” he said.
