Malaria - “Our single biggest public health problem”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India, Republic of (Free-Press-Release.com) September 3, 2011 -- Malaria - “Our single biggest public health problem”
If the monsoon rains have you dancing with joy you are not the only one, the pesky mosquito is also humming away. With the onset of the monsoon the dreaded scourge of malaria increases when the water logging helps mosquito breeding and thus transmission of the disease.

According to a new study published, in reputed medical journal The Lancet, Malaria kills nearly 2 lakh people in India every year, including 80,000 children below the age of 15 years. According to the report 90 per cent of the deaths were recorded in rural areas, of which 86 per cent occurred at home without any medical attention. The study, which began in 2002, covered 6,671 areas, each with about 200 households. The report found that Orissa reported the highest number of deaths — 50,000. The other “high-malaria” states are Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Assam.
While scientists are working against the clock to come up with new ways to tackle the mosquitoes menace there currently is no magic bullet for malaria control. The anopheles mosquito, the environment and human behavior all work together. Some mosquitoes breed in stagnant water which can be drained or sprayed with oil to kill the larvae. But others breed in slow-moving water at the margins of rivers and streams in forest fringe areas, for which environmental spraying will not work. Some mosquitoes bite at night, and when people sleep outdoors insecticide-treated bed nets are necessary.

One of the tools that offer promise in this war is medicated bed nets (LLIN). A Study done in the mosquito infested regions of Africa showed that LLIN could reduce malaria deaths by 25 percent. These bed nets treated with an environmentally friendly long lasting insecticide creates an invisible chemical wall that keeps the mosquitoes away.

Although not the only solution, LLIN offer a cheap and immediate solution to combating the increase of malaria. However the problem of getting these bed nets to the most affected sections poses a formidable challenge. This is where the State government in Madhya Pradesh will need to work at the grass root level to ensure that this is done since most of the worst affected states are also the poorest despite being rich in natural resources. In tribal areas malaria is an important cause of infant and maternal deaths. States like Orissa and West Bengal have bought LLIN from their own funds to counter the malaria menace and have seen good results.
Unbridled urbanization, migration of workers, and lack of coordinated control efforts across the affected areas are all contributing to the resurgence of malaria in India and the problem is only likely to increase in the years to come.
We have lived with malaria for centuries do we wish to retain the status quo?

For further information please contact:
Atul Malikram
9827092823

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