India News | Karnataka Will Be Malaria-free by 2025: Dr Sudhakar

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 17 (ANI): Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Saturday said the Centre has given a target of eradicating malaria by 2030 but the state government has taken it as a challenge to make the State malaria-free by 2025.

The Health Minister said creating awareness among people is key to fighting malaria and other vector-borne diseases. He instructed officials to travel to districts with high malaria cases and encourage people to take preventive measures to avoid the disease.

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Speaking at the workshop organised by the state health department, Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) and the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) on 'Accelerating towards a Malaria Free Karnataka by 2025' Minister Sudhakar said, the government requires the support of non-governmental organisations and the public in addition to government programmes.

"There were no proper testing facilities for malaria earlier and in the 1980s and 1990s, we started testing for malaria whenever someone caught a fever. With such testing and awareness programs among communities, the number of cases has drastically come down. To fight any disease, creating awareness in society is very important," he said.

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The Chief Minister said a total of 1,86,532 malaria cases were detected across the country in 2020. Karnataka accounted for only 1,701 cases which is just 0.9 per cent of cases in the country.

"Generally, cases of malaria and dengue increase during the monsoon season and currently there has been very heavy rain in 13 districts of Karnataka. Due to the rain, waterlogging occurs in unused buckets, unused tyres, empty coconut shells etc is the breeding ground for mosquitoes which act as vectors to transmit these diseases. A total of 1,86,532 malaria cases were detected across the country in 2020. Karnataka accounted for only 1,701 cases which is just 0.9% of cases in the country. A total of 21 crore malaria cases were detected across the world this year and out of this 6.27 lakh people have fallen victim," he said.

"I congratulate all the health officials and staff for keeping malaria cases under control in Karnataka," Sudhakar said.

The Chief Minister further said malaria should not be taken lightly as the monsoon season is a challenging period.

"Only 100 malaria cases have been recorded in the past six months. However, monsoon season is a challenging period and we are seeing an uptick in the number of malaria cases in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. we are witnessing an increase in cases in areas that have proximity to forests," the health minister said.

Dr Sudhakar said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's vision of Nava Karnataka can be realised only if we achieve a healthy Karnataka.

"In addition to malaria, we also have to eradicate tuberculosis. The union government has given a target of eradicating malaria by 2030. However, we have taken it as a challenge and we will take measures to make Karnataka malaria-free by 2025, five years before the Union government's target," he said.

"To achieve this target, we also require the support of non-governmental organisations and the public in addition to government programs. It should become every citizen's responsibility to keep their surroundings clean. A lot of awareness has to be created in this regard," he said.

He said awareness programs have to be created among communities in places that are seeing an uptick in malaria cases including Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

Treatment alone is not enough, rather precautionary measures need to be taken to ensure that the disease does not come back, the minister said.

"We need to be vigilant and never assume that there are no cases in districts like Kolar and Chikkaballapur just because no cases have been reported. We need to take measures to encourage communities to jointly participate in the malaria eradication effort," Sudhakar said. (ANI)

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