Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Anshul Vipat
Image source: IANS
India has showcased immense achievement against the disease and has recorded a sharp decline in the number of cases as well as the number of deaths caused by the disease
In 2016, the country launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) and the National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22). Accordingly, India has showcased immense achievement against the disease and has recorded a sharp decline in the number of cases as well as the number of deaths caused by the disease.
According to the figures of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of malaria cases has declined by 84 percent from 2015 to 2020. The country had reported 11,69,261 cases in 2015 which got reduced to 1,86,532 in 2020. The death rate has also seen a sharp fall, from 384 in 2015 to 93 in 2020.
There has also been a significant reduction in annual parasite incidence (API). API is the number of confirmed new cases from malaria registered in a specific year, expressed per 1,000 individuals. In 2015, India had 154 districts with API of more than 1 which dropped to 32 in 2020. World Health Organisation (WHO)'s World Malaria Report 2021, According to WHO, noted that of the world’s 11 highest-burden countries, only India registered progress against malaria.
Although tremendous progress has been made against malaria, these are official figures recorded by the government and do not include cases and deaths it missed. According to the same WHO report, there were an estimated 241 million cases in 2020, increasing from 227 million in 2019. Three countries accounted for 99.7 per cent of the estimated cases in the region, with India being the largest contributor (82.5 per cent). The entire South-East Asia Region had close to 5 million estimated cases, with India accounting to 83 percent cases and 82 percent deaths.
The stark disparity in estimated and recorded numbers acts as a major concern for India's malaria elimination journey.
In order to overcome the the big challenge of getting the numbers right, the government needs to streamline its strategies by having a robust integrated data collection system that can collect disease data from all points of health service.
India has pledged to end malaria by 2030. Government's NFME program will be critical for achieving the goal. This demands urgent action and active participation of all stakeholders. A collective action from individuals, communities, private sector and policy makers can help achieve this inspiring and historic feat.
