End malaria for good

Ranjan K Baruah *

Fogging underway in areas identified as prone to Dengue in Churachandpur district on October 04 2015 :: Pix - TSE

Most of us are familiar about malaria. Malaria has been a global concern for years and it is still a concern in many countries around the world. There have been many initiatives to roll back or fight malaria but it could be found in many countries till date.

International organisation like World Health Organisation (WHO) and others are concerned about it and many initiatives have been started in different countries. The facts related to malaria are still concerning many of us.

The last World Malaria Report was published in 2015 and it has many facts related to malaria. The report draws on data from 95 countries and territories with ongoing malaria transmission, and a further 6 countries that have recently eliminated malaria.

According to the latest estimates from WHO , there were 214 million new cases of malaria worldwide in 2015 (range 149–303 million). The African Region accounted for most global cases of malaria (88%), followed by the South-East Asia Region (10%) and the Eastern Mediterranean Region (2%).

In 2015, there were an estimated 438 000 malaria deaths (range 236 000–635 000) worldwide. Most of these deaths occurred in the African Region (90%), followed by the South-East Asia Region (7%) and the Eastern Mediterranean Region (2%). Between 2000 and 2015, malaria incidence rates (new malaria cases) fell by 37% globally, and by 42% in Africa. During this same period, malaria mortality rates fell by 60% globally and by 66% in the African Region.

Other regions have achieved impressive reductions in their malaria burden. Since 2000, the malaria mortality rate declined by 72% in the Region of the Americas, by 65% in the Western Pacific Region, by 64% in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and by 49% in the South-East Asia Region. For the first time, the European Region reported zero indigenous cases of malaria in 2015.

Children under five are particularly susceptible to malaria illness, infection and death. In 2015, malaria killed an estimated 306 000 under-fives globally, including 292 000 children in the African Region. Between 2000 and 2015, the mortality rate among children under five fell by 65% worldwide and by 71% in Africa.

In 2015, 33 countries reported fewer than 1000 cases of malaria. In 2014, 16 countries reported zero indigenous cases of the disease: Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Iraq, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Oman, Paraguay, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

In 2015, the global burden of malaria remained heavily concentrated in 15 countries, mainly in Africa. Together, these countries account for an estimated 80% of global malaria cases and 78% of deaths. Since 2000, progress in reducing malaria incidence in these high burden countries (32%) has lagged behind that of other countries globally (53%).

World malaria day is observed on 25th April internationally. This year's theme "End malaria for good" reflects the vision of a malaria-free world set out in the "Global technical strategy for malaria 2016-2030". The timeline of 2016-2030 is aligned with the "2030 Agenda for sustainable development", the new global development framework endorsed by all United Nations Member States.

This disease is also concern in the country like India. It has been a major public health problem in India. Intermittent fever, with high incidence during the rainy season, coinciding with agriculture, sowing and harvesting, was first recognized by Romans and Greeks who associated it with swampy areas. They postulated that intermittent fevers were due to the 'bad odour' coming from the marshy areas and thus gave the name 'malaria' ('mal'=bad + 'air') to intermittent fevers.

In spite of the fact that today the causative organism is known, the name has stuck to this disease. Government of India has programme like National vector Borne Disease Control Programme which deals with disease like malaria. It is important for each and every one of us to join hands and roll back malaria. If we cannot save lives of human being from malaria then we need to rethink about the progress of science and our commitments in fighting malaria.

(With direct inputs from WHO's Malaria Report )