Nagaland State joined the rest of the world in observing World Malaria Day on April 25 under the theme, “Time to Deliver Zero Malaria: Invest, Innovate, Implement.”
Principal Director of Nagaland Health and Family Welfare, Dr Vibeituouno M Sachu, has said that the National Centre for Vector Borne Disease Control in the State has been progressing steadily toward a Malaria-free Nagaland. She revealed that there is a sharp decline in malaria morbidity and mortality, and “there have been no malaria deaths in the State since 2017”.
There were as many as 75 malaria-related deaths in 2006. The North Eastern State was once a hub of Malaria due to a plethora of reasons.
Dr Vibeituouno M Sachu said that this is a major step towards their goal for the elimination of Malaria, but there are many more things to be done in order to have a Malaria free State. In recent years, three districts- Mokokchung, Longleng, and Zunheboto have been successful in malaria control programmes with no malaria-positive cases reported.
In fact, Nagaland has brought down malaria cases from 8489 cases in 2009 to only 5 in 2022. However, Commissioner & Secretary, Health Department Y Kikheto Sema said that there is a need to create awareness about the devastating effect on health, social and economic consequences due to Malaria.
To achieve this goal, he said political support and cooperation from the line departments and institutions, the public, NGOs, and faith-based organisations were the need of the hour.
Globally, 3.3 billion people in 106 countries are at risk of Malaria. In 2012, Malaria caused an estimated 627,000 deaths, mostly among African children. Asia, Latin America, and to a lesser extent, the Middle East and parts of Europe are also affected.
World Malaria Day sprang out of the efforts taking place across the African continent to commemorate Africa Malaria Day. The WMD is one of 11 official global public health campaigns currently marked by the World Health Organisation (WHO), sources say.
In another North Eastern State of Meghalaya, the cases nearly doubled from 39,616 in 2008 to 76,759 in 2009. But there was a gradual decrease in cases until 2012 (20,834). From 2013 to 2015, there was again a gradual increase in cases, and this was followed by a steady decline until 2018
Like in Nagaland, the States of Arunachal and Manipur have reported a steady decline in malaria cases from 2009 until 2018.
In Assam, from a high of 25,815 cases in 2008, there has been a continuous decrease, and in 2018, only 957 cases were reported.
In Mizoram, the cases increased from 2008 (7361) to 2010 (15,594), followed by a steep decline in 2011 (8861). From 2012, the cases started increasing again, and a peak of 28,593 cases was recorded in 2015. There is a decline from 2016 to 2018, reports say.
The tropical climate provides a fertile breeding ground for varied mosquito fauna. In India, 61 species of anophelines have been recorded within the subgenera Anopheles and Celia, and there is a possibility that this number increases with the identification of new species under several groups or complexes.
Nine of the 61 Anopheles species have been incriminated as malaria vectors in India. Globally, North East India is part of the “Indo-Burma hot spot” and is home to diverse fauna and flora. In the early 1990s, 37 anophelines were reported from North East India. A later survey in the early 2000s reportedly documented 45 anophelines from this region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the 18 Global leaders who endorsed the Malaria Elimination roadmap of the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance at the East Asia Summit held in Malaysia in 2015.
At the all-India level, there has been 85.1 per cent decline in malaria cases and 83.36 per cent decline in deaths during 2015-2022.
