LUCKNOW: Sustained efforts to keep vector population under control seemed to have paid dividends with the number of malaria cases declining in Uttar Pradesh.
Official data shows that the against 92,000 plus cases across the state in 2019-20, the number of cases has come down to 10,972 in 2021-22. In the current year, just 430 cases have been recorded so far.
The facts came to fore at an official programme to mark the World Malaria Awareness Day here on Monday. Joint director and state programme officer malaria, department of medical and health, UP, Dr AK Yadav said, “The infection rate of malaria in UP was 1.63% in 2018 and 1.58% in 2019. It has come down to 1.03 in 2020, whereas last year this infection rate came down to just 0.25%, closer to the national average of 0.14%.”
He also stated that the Union health ministry has lauded UP for its sustained exemplary performance towards malaria elimination between 2015 and 2021 and progressing from category II to I. He credited the decline in number of cases and infection rate to innovative solutions such as Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs), and Indoor Residual Spray (IRS), government efforts like the Dastak campaign in endemic regions.
Experts lauded UP’s achievement, but maintained that there was a need to spread awareness on malaria prevention.
Citing a 2022 study published in the journal of family medicine and primary care, they stated that a large percentage still believed that malaria spreads through contaminated water or food or through touch.
Dr Yadav said that the Indian government has pledged to end malaria by 2030.
