Health Minister Dr. Damodar Rout may admit it or not, but the state has recorded the maximum number of malaria cases in the country for the period January-July this year. While the state government has been claiming to have taken several measures to control the epidemic, the result was something different.
According to the latest figures submitted by the Union Health Ministry to the Lok Sabha, the cases are on the rise in Odisha. Around 89,466 cases of malaria were reported from Odisha followed by Chhattisgarh which recorded 31,940 cases. Jharkhand reported 26,489 cases and Maharashtra reported 17,060 cases followed by Gujarat, Assam, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh. The highest number of deaths were reported from Maharashtra (24) followed by Odisha (20). A total of 2,62,582 malaria cases were reported with 78 deaths across the country.
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Although, the minister had faced severe heat from the opposition for the rise in dengue cases in the past weeks, he could heave a sigh of relief that Odisha is not in the list of the deadly disease. India recorded 16,683 dengue cases till July 31 with 59 fatalities. While maximum cases were reported from Kerala (5,947) with 20 deaths, Karnataka stood second in the list with 4,039 cases and 11 deaths. Tamil Nadu reported 3,079 cases with no deaths and Maharashtra reported 965 with 19 deaths. Apart from malaria and dengue, the cases of chikungunya are also rising in the country. Around 6,696 cases of chikungunya were reported in India of which Andhra Pradesh recorded 2,850 cases.
Malaria is an infectious disease of tropical countries. It is spread by mosquitoes. The central government has been providing assistance to the state governments for prevention and control of the vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya. Numerous ecological, biological and other factors like rapid and unplanned urbanization, poor sanitation, vegetation and irregular rains are responsible for the transmission of the diseases. Apart from government’s initiatives, public awareness is also necessary to control it.
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