Villages more prone to malaria: Caritas India

26 April, 2013 - People living in northeast Indian states and parts of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal states are most prone to malaria according to Caritas India, the Catholic Church's social service arm. The observation was made at a discussion in New Delhi on prevention and cure of the disease, to mark World Malaria Day, Thursday. While 82 per cent of Indians live in malaria transmission risk areas, 80 per cent of malaria occurs among 20 percent of the people, who live in “high risk” areas, mostly in poor and tribal villages, participants said. Malaria is also inextricably linked to poverty, said the participants of the programme organized in collaboration with the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP). To mark World Malaria Day and intensify awareness against the mosquito-borne infectious disease, people in northeast India across more than 30 locations participated in rallies, symposia and other activities like painting, quiz and photography competitions. "Malaria is easily preventable and curable as effective interventions are now available ,” said Fr. Frederick D’ Souza, executive director of Caritas India. He said reduction of disease burden can be achieved through collective commitment and convergence of efforts by all stakeholders, including the community and the civil society, public sector and donors. Caritas that has been observing the annual day since 2011, noted that the problem is evident in village and poor areas as there is little access to medical facilities and people are not very much aware about its prevention.
Through several community awareness and mobilization programs, approximately 500,000 people have been reached by Caritas India in 48 districts in the northeastern region. According to the estimates of Indian Council of Medical Research, some 30,000 people die of malaria every year. On an average, 40,297 Indians die of the mosquito-borne disease every year. Overall, the number of malaria cases is 9.75 million, according to ICMR estimates. India has the highest malaria burden (with an estimated 24 million cases per year), followed by Indonesia and Myanmar in South East Asia, the second most affected region in the world. (Source: UCANEWS)