The will to fight malaria
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: April 25, 2014 -

Coming on the eve of World Malaria Day which falls on April 25 every year, the revelation that spread of the deadly diseases caused by Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and dengue have been on the rise in the past few years even though the fight against malarial epidemic in Manipur has entered into a predominant stage should be a cause of concern for all of us.

With entomological survey conducted in the past showing an unexpected increase in mosquito fauna, including potential vectors of dengue and Japanese encephalitis in the State, this revelation that come out during an interaction with State Malaria Officer Dr S Manikanta has also given an indication to the looming dark shadow of the menace that malarial parasites could play on the lives of the people in this poor State where access to health care facilities is still a distant dream.

So, if no preventive measures were not taken up while there is still time, then, one could only expect of the expected things to come, sooner than latter.

In fact, one could conclude that the looming threat of Dengue is already here. Till 2007, Dengue was something unknown to the people of Manipur in spite of the presence of risk factors like heavy precipitation, dense forest vegetation and swampy areas. But from 2008, it has become an almost regular visitor from the land of death.

Taking serious note of this looming threat from malaria, World Health Organisation (WHO) has, on the eve of World Malaria Day, called for greater investment in the battle against malaria especially in South East Asian region where three out of every four people are said to be at risk of malaria.

Even though the number of confirmed malaria cases in this region, which is home to a quarter of the world’s population, is said to have come down from from 2.9 million in 2000 to 2 million in 2012, the disease still remains a significant threat to the lives of people with more than 1.4 billion people continue to be at risk of malaria.

So, more funding has become an obvious need for augmenting the existing facilities for treatment, diagnostics, drugs and research.

This is the precise reason for WHO to issue the call for greater investment in the fight against malaria.

But we would like to differ a little on this point.

More than the funding, which, of course, is necessary for any mission, we need a stronger political will to combat the menace for malaria in India including Manipur.

When a tiny island nation like Maldives has been able to make itself free of malarial parasite since 1984 and another island nation, Sri Lanka is in the elimination phase no new case of malaria reported since November 2012, why is India still feeling happy over the target of keeping cases of malaria incidence by 50-75 per cent by 2015?