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Andhra bags national award for curbing malaria
The Union health ministry on Monday acknowledged Andhra Pradesh as the best performing state in the control of malaria for bringing down the total number of cases by five times in three years
The Union health ministry on Monday acknowledged Andhra Pradesh as the best performing state in the control of malaria for bringing down the total number of cases by five times in three years.
On behalf of Andhra Pradesh, additional director of state health and family welfare V Rami Reddy received the award from Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya at a programme in New Delhi on Monday. Union minister of state Bharti Pravin Pawar, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan and other senior officials participated in the programme.
An official release from Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s office stated the award was an acknowledgement to the state’s efforts in eradicating malaria based on Annual Parasite Index (API), which was less than one in all the districts of the state. The API is calculated as less than one malaria case per 1,000 of population in a year.
Since 2018, the malaria cases have drastically declined from 6,040 to 1,139 in 2021 in the state. A total of 75,29,994 blood samples were tested in 2021, out of which 1,139 were diagnosed with malaria. “This year, 117 malaria cases have emerged so far across the state,” the official release said.
It further claimed that out of the total 25.94 lakh mosquito nets distributed across the state last year, 21.50 lakh nets were distributed in areas identified as high-risk zone. The government also ensured to run indoor residual spraying (IRS) at the high-risk zones.
“Looking at the figures last year, the IRS was done in 3,027 villages with 9.22 lakh population and district level officers were appointed to monitor the progress. Mosquito nets were also provided to health centres, schools and hostels,” the official note said.
The health department in collaboration with the panchayat raj, rural water supply and municipal administration departments at the village and ward secretariat level have been asked to implement programmes like Friday-Dryday, to educate citizens about weekly cleaning of water storage containers such as overhead tanks, sumps and refrigerators, it added.
