World Malaria Day: Social workers’ activist approach helps reduce cases in India’s Odisha

While most deaths from malaria are in African countries, India is believed to have had more than 4 million cases of the disease in 2021, according to the WHO. © FRANCE 24 screengrab

Malaria is both a curable and preventable disease but it remains deadly in several parts of the globe, claiming the life of one child every two minutes according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). To mark World Malaria Day on Tuesday, FRANCE 24 reported from the state of Odisha in eastern India to look at efforts there to eradicate the disease.

Asha Patra lives with her 20-year-old son in an indigenous village in Odisha state. In early March, he contracted malaria.