Shillong, June 12 (NNN): “Meghalaya accounts for 20 per cent of malaria cases of those reported from the north-east states annually,” Meghalaya deputy chief minister informed at an advocacy workshop organized by the Meghalaya State Vector Borne Disease Control Society, in collaboration with the state health department. Inaugurating the workshop, Deputy Chief Minister, in-charge health, Rowell Lyngdoh, emphasized on creating awareness among the people, especially those living in the rural areas on measures to avoid malaria.
With a substantial number of students taking part in the workshop, resource persons, who addressed the gathering, emphasized on involving the student community on spreading awareness on the “dos and don’ts” of malaria. The workshop laid emphasis on the spraying of DDT in households in order to eliminate mosquitoes, the primary carriers of malaria.
“The Garo hill districts in Meghalaya persistently contributed most cases and malaria-attributable deaths, and deserve priority for strengthening interventions. The problem is complex along international borders of the northeast due to poor inter-country coordinated vector control interventions, illiteracy, difficult terrain and poor access to healthcare services,” a health official pointed out. The highest death toll of 98 in 2007 was ascribed to focal disease outbreaks along Indo-Bangla border, and every single death was confirmed to be due to malaria spread by mosquitoes which were believed to be multi-drug resistant.
“Most death cases that were preventable occurred of complications arising due to late reporting and consequent delayed treatment,” a report by an international agency on the malaria scenario in the Northeast read.
With malaria being the number one killer disease in Meghalaya, authorities Tuesday emphasized on spreading awareness on the “dos and don’ts” to control the outbreak of the “deadly disease.” Malaria is endemic in the Garo hills of Meghalaya, and death cases are reported annually. “Plasmodium falciparum, which is the major parasite, is solely responsible for each malaria-attributable death case. The Garo hills are categorized high-risk for drug-resistant malaria,” says an official in the state health department.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/malaria-cases-at-meghalaya/
