Mansukh Mandaviya

Suggesting that the private sector, including private practitioners, need to align their malaria case management, reporting and related activities with the national programme, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday called for the progressive strengthening of the healthcare delivery system and improving multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration.

In his address on World Malaria Day, the Health Minister said, “Not only diagnosis and treatment, swachhta (cleanliness) in our personal and community surroundings and social awareness regarding malaria control and prevention are equally important in our collective fight against the disease and for meeting our goal of elimination by 2030.”

This year’s theme is “Harness innovation to reduce the global malaria disease burden and save lives”.

Malaria elimination

The Health Minister called for prioritisation of malaria elimination, and said leveraging technology and innovation would help in developing tailor-made solutions to advance India’s malaria elimination plan and contribute to improved health, quality of life and alleviation of poverty.

The Minister said India had made progress in reducing the malaria incidence and deaths.

“Our efforts have resulted in a 86.45% decline in malaria cases and a 79.16% reduction in malaria-related deaths in 2021 as compared with 2015,” he said.

“This is a major step towards our goal for elimination of malaria but still more needs to be done to fulfil the dream of Malaria Free India,” Mr. Mandaviya added.

A manual on Integrated Vector Management, 2022 was released on this occasion.

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