Despite flood-like situation prevailing in Prayagraj with many low-lying areas submerged Ganga and Yamuna water, there is good news for Prayagraj as far as checking the spread of malaria is concerned.
This year, despite increasing the pace of test, the number of positive patients has remained relatively less as compared to previous years, say district medical and health officials.
“A total of 1,573 malaria patients were identified in the tests conducted on around 1.54 lakh people in 2019. Likewise, as many as 208 people had tested positive for malaria in tests carried out on 41,800 people in 2020. Even in 2021, around 274 people had been found in the grip of malaria in the tests carried out on 34,900 people,” said district malaria officer Dr Anand Kumar Singh.
“But this year due to the vigilance of the people as well as the efforts made by health department, only 74 patients have so far been confirmed to have contracted malaria in the tests of 98,000 people carried out across the Prayagraj district,” he added.
The DMO said adequate quantity of medicines and tests kits for malaria are available in Prayagraj. “Around 1.5 lakh malaria testing kits are being made available to us and we are in the process of distributing around 1 lakh of these testing kits among the community and urban primary health centres. Each CHC is being provided 4,000 testing kits so that village level testing with the help of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers can be carried out,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The DMO said adequate quantity of medicines and tests kits for malaria are available in Prayagraj. “Around 1.5 lakh malaria testing kits are being made available to us and we are in the process of distributing around 1 lakh of these testing kits among the community and urban primary health centres. Each CHC is being provided 4,000 testing kits so that village level testing with the help of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers can be carried out,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Singh said cleanliness drives and anti-malaria spraying were being undertaken on priority by Prayagraj Nagar Nigam (PNN) in urban areas and by panchayati raj workers in rural areas of the district.