Government continuously working towards 'malaria-free India': Anupriya Patel

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The government is continuously working towards achieving the goal of 'Malaria Free India', said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Singh Patel on World Malaria Day on Friday.

World Malaria Day is observed every year on April 25 to raise awareness against the disease. This year's theme “Malaria ends with us: Reinvest, reimagine, reignite” aims to re-energise efforts at all levels, from global policy to community action, to accelerate progress toward malaria elimination.

“On the occasion of World Malaria Day, it is the responsibility of all of us to spread awareness about a deadly disease like malaria and make collective efforts to eradicate it,” Patel shared in a post on social media platform X.

“The Government of India is continuously working towards the goal of 'Malaria Free India'. Let us all together make this campaign a success,” she added.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease spread to humans by female Anopheles mosquitoes. It is preventable and curable.

India aims to eliminate malaria by 2030. The government is committed to achieving zero indigenous cases by 2027.

The latest World Malaria Report 2024, released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in December last year, showed that India achieved major progress in malaria elimination, with a 69 per cent drop in cases and a 68 per cent reduction in deaths between 2017 and 2023.

Contributing just 0.8 per cent of global cases in 2023, India also exited from the WHO's High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) group in 2024, marking a significant public health achievement.

"Every year millions of people are affected by malaria, whereas it is a preventable and curable disease," Patel said.

To prevent the disease, she urged people to "keep cleanliness, protect yourself from mosquitoes, wear full sleeve clothes, use a mosquito net and repellent. Get yourself checked immediately if you have a fever."

Globally, about 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths due to the mosquito-borne disease have been averted since 2000, said WHO.

To date, the WHO has certified 45 countries and 1 territory as malaria-free, and many countries with a low burden of malaria continue to move steadily towards the goal of elimination.

Of the remaining 83 malaria-endemic countries, 25 reported fewer than 10 cases of the disease in 2023.

Despite significant gains, malaria remains a major public health challenge, with nearly 600,000 lives lost to the disease in 2023 alone. The African Region is hardest hit, shouldering an estimated 95 per cent of the malaria burden each year.

--IANS

rvt/