Reports from the World Health Organization and the Commonwealth Malaria show that India will eliminate malaria by 2030. Malaria death toll has dropped significantly, allowing better monitoring and access to diagnosis and medication.
Who says that malaria is a life-threatening disease that is transmitted to humans through certain types of mosquitoes. It is found mainly in tropical countries. It is preventable and curable. Infection is caused by parasites and is not transmitted by one person. Malaria can be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites and using medication. Treatment can prevent mild cases from worsening.
How TN solves a case
TS Selvavinayagam Public Health Director said that in the past two years, only about 340 cases have been reported in Tamil Nadu. He added that this transformation becomes possible due to stable surveillance. “When a fever is reported, the entire area is under surveillance. All agencies must inform the fever surveillance. This allows the health department to obtain detailed information on where the fever occurs, where it is affected and where it occurs,” he explained.
Dr. Selvavinayagam went on to detail: “Once the location of a fever case has been determined, environmental factors can be identified. These may be problems with water stagnation or water storage containers. We then expanded the periphery of surveillance and continued to conduct in-depth surveillance and continued to monitor, conduct anti-media activities and other rapid search for hidden cases to put them in dangerous situations.
The health department then conducts regular anti-lane activities. “If this is a high-risk area, we will continue to monitor the area for many years,” he said.
Female mosquitoes that spread malaria breed in freshwater, coastal and dirty water. Four types of malaria are usually found in the country: Plasmodium, Plasmodium, Plasmodium falciparum, Oval and Plasmodium malaria.
“In Tamil Nadu, we usually see two species of malaria – Vivax and falciparum. The latter is imported,” said former DPH K. Kolandaisamy. “The elevated tanks, wells, river areas and quarries found are breeding,” he explained. Other areas include places for religious congregations such as coconut woods and Ramswaram.
Symptoms of malaria
Symptoms of malaria can be mild or life-threatening. Since some malaria symptoms are not specific, it is important to conduct early testing.
The most common early symptoms of malaria are fever, headaches, and chills.
Severe symptoms include extreme fatigue and fatigue, impaired consciousness, multiple convulsions, difficulty breathing, dark or bloody urine, jaundice (yellow eyes and skin), abnormal bleeding.
Infants, children under 5 years of age, pregnant women and girls, travelers, and people with HIV or AIDS have higher risk of severe infection.
Source: World Health Organization
Strategies to eliminate malaria
Malaria elimination strategies include taking peripheral blood smears from patients. “Health inspectors should carry a needle and a sliding box with them to collect blood smears; a wire and a torch,” said Dr. Kolandaisamy. The last two items will help inspectors identify mosquitoes that cause the disease. He added that they should also have a chlorine spectroscopy to examine chlorine in the water.
All fevers are tested for suspected malaria. If malaria is suspected to be imported (related to travel), we ask for travel history to help control the spread of the disease, Dr. Kolandaisamy said.
Healthcare workers are deployed for spraying pesticides. Doctors say years of surveillance and publicity requirements covering elevated tanks and wells have led to the elimination of mosquito breeding sites.
Public health experts say travelers are introducing malaria into the state. Falignant malaria species spread to travel. The challenge, he noted, is to identify the source of the infection.
“The biggest challenge is the lack of health and health inspectors. The number of positions is reduced. These are the ‘invisible jobs’ of the public health department. This invisible force (if not maintained) may increase the burden on employees and lead to the growth of the disease, Dr. Kolandaisamy.
| Malaria in India | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| All Situations | 161753 | 176522 | 227564 | 257154 |
| Plasmodium falciparum | 101566 | 101070 | 137945 | 155026 |
| Number of deaths | 90 | 83 | 83 | 76 |
Malaria in India
Between 2001 and 2020Senior epidemiologist S. Sabesan recalled that malaria cases dropped from 2.09 million to 1.09 million. During the same period, the number of Plasmodium falciparum (that is considered the deadliest) dropped from 1.0 to 12,000. He said SPR (slide positive rate) dropped from 2.31 to 0.19 SFR (slide vicious rate) dropped from 1.11 in 2001 to 0.12 in 2020.
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Up and West Bengal continue to contribute a large number of cases.
Dr Sabesen, who was a former GR director, said the cases in Andhra Pradesh are relatively high in the southern region. Scientist at the Indian Center for Media Control Research.
He said the number of cases has increased again over the past few years, indicating a decrease in earlier attention to surveillance. Dr. Sabes warned that this could hinder the goal of eliminating malaria and called for better surveillance and control strategies nationwide.
He said that if the government strictly adheres to: environmental sanitation, it can eliminate malaria; surveillance in state and state; occupies joint interstate carrier control monitoring; engages companies in public-private partnerships to make networks and repellents, and appoints trained public entomologists who can assess vector power and provide timely guidance to prevent the resurgence of mosquito breeding and the spread of disease. He added: “We need a comprehensive approach. In urban areas, we have to target malaria and dengue because the breeding habitats of mosquitoes are similar. In rural areas, we have to target Japanese encephalitis.”
He noted that while India no longer undertakes the World Health Organization’s high-impact initiative on malaria, by 2024, it still has some way to reach its target to eliminate malaria by 2030 to eliminate malaria in the country.
publishing – April 13, 2025 09:00 AM IST
