India shows less satisfactory performance in initiatives taken to tackle malaria, indicates WHO report
Malaria is a dangerous mosquito borne disease. Unfortunately, nearly eighty per cent of the total malaria-related deaths have occurred in India and fourteen Sub-Saharan African countries. Noteworthy, around seven per cent of the total malaria-related deaths have happened in our country, in which nearly six percent of the total malaria patients live.
Yet, the World Health Organisation report indicates that the country is showing less satisfactory performance in the malaria-eradication initiatives taken by the government to tackle the disease.
The WHO report shows that the country might not reduce its disease burden beyond forty per cent by 2020.
The week surveillance system is the major reason behind the failure of the government to effectively reduce the case burden.
Maldives, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan have achieved significant gains in the malaria-eradication programs. They have achieved the malaria-free status recently.
There are indications in the WHO report that Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia and, even, Myanmar, are slowly approaching this status.
It is extremely unfortunate that the commitment shown by these small countries has not prompted or encouraged our country to aggressively move towards the target of malaria-free status.
It is the high time to formulate a more feasible program to fight against the disease.
Vignesh. S. G
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