‘Only 25% dists achieved 0 malaria cases by ’20’

NEW DELHI: Only a fourth of the 448 districts have been able to achieve zero malaria cases by 2020 as per the National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination, a report by the non-profit Malaria No More-India has revealed.

India was among the 18 global leaders who pledged to end malaria by 2030 in the East Asia Summit held in Malaysia in 2015.

However, so far, only 116 of the total 448 districts have reported zero malaria cases in 2020, and an additional 215 districts have reported less than 10 cases, the report said.

The National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22) was launched by the health ministry in July 2017, which laid down strategies for the next five years.

Under the plan, 448 districts that reported one case per 1,000 population a year fell under Category

1, while 48 that reported between 1 and 2 cases per 1,000 population a year fell under Category 2. All these districts were to achieve zero malaria cases by 2022. According to the report, the country has recorded an 85% decline in the number of malaria cases since 2015. Of this, the Category 1 districts have recorded an 89% reduction, while Category 2 recorded 68%. The report further pointed to 34 states and 676 districts, which reported less than 1 malaria case per 1,000 population in 2020.

Odisha had the highest burden, contributing over 30% of the country’s cases. It also saw the maximum decline in infections. “This, however, does not imply that 676 of the 678 districts initially considered in the National Strategic Plan have achieved less than 1 malaria case. The number of districts that provide malaria data has gone up since,” said Dr Kaushik Sarkar, director, Malaria No More-India.