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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : November 23, 2018 6:39 PM IST
Ivermectin can help reduce malaria in children. © Shutterstock
This week's World Malaria Report 2018 says that while the disease had globally been on a decline, progress "stalled" between 2015 and 2017.
According to the report: "Of the countries hardest hit by malaria, only India showed progress in reducing its disease burden," says the WHO.
WHO's Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Nobody should die from malaria,". "As progress stagnates, we are at risk of squandering years of toil, investment and success in reducing the number of people suffering from the disease".
According to The Wire reports, this year's report pays special focus on 11 countries with India being the only non-African country.
70% of the global malaria burden is contributed by these 11 countries i.e. an estimation of 151 million cases and 2,74,000 deaths in 2017. Five of these countries, including India, account for nearly half of all malaria cases worldwide Nigeria leads at 25%, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (11%), Mozambique (5%), India (4%) and Uganda (4%).
The number of estimated malaria cases globally rose from 217 million to 219 million between 2016 and 2017. There were 4,35,000 malaria-related deaths in 2017 too.
The WHO wants these countries to lead the response to malaria namely India, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.
Between 2016 and 2017, India showed an impressive 24% reduction in malaria cases or a reduction of three million cases. Out of all the 11 highest burden countries, India is the only one to have recorded a substantial drop. India has 4% of the global malaria burden.
WHO appreciates the state of Odisha's efforts for India's impressive decline and says that "The drop is largely due to substantial declines of the disease in the highly malarious state of Odisha, home to approximately 40% of all malaria cases in the country".
WHO believes "rejuvenated" political commitment, a strong technical leadership and increased domestic funding along with a special mention of Odisha's network of ASHA workers who help deliver anti-malaria services in rural and remote parts of the state are the possible reasons for the success.
In total, the World Malaria Report 2018 examines data from 91 countries which have an ongoing transmission of malaria. The report depends on data released by national malaria control programs and other partners who work in endemic countries.
On technical leadership, the WHO says this means India's approach in Odisha had the "right mix" of vector control measures. The WHO stresses through the report that domestic funding is key as global funding has also been plateauing. The US remains the single largest international donor and contributed 1.2 billion USD in 2017 one-third of all funding (3.1 billion USD) available in 2017 for control and elimination of malaria.
Odisha's through its initiative called Daman has increased its efforts on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of malaria. The state has also tried to improve the skills of its healthcare workers.
India launched a National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination in 2017. It details India's roadmap for malaria elimination in 571 districts out of India's 678 districts by 2022.
