New Delhi : The Health Ministry on Thursday launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination, which aims to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases from India.
The framework will serve as a road map for advocating and planning for malaria eradication in a phased manner by 2030, a health ministry statement said.
Its objectives include eradication of malaria from all low- and moderately-endemic states and union territories by 2022, reduction in malaria incidents to less than one case per 1,000 population in every part of India by 2024.
Preventing re-transmission of malaria disease in areas where it has been eliminated and maintaining malaria-free status of the country by 2030 are its other objectives.
India accounts for 70 percent of malaria cases and 69 percent malaria deaths in South East Asian region countries. In 2015, 1.13 million cases were reported in India.
Presently, 80 percent malaria cases occur among 20 percent people classified as high- risk category, although approximately 82 percent of the country’s population lives in malaria transmission risk areas.
These high-risk populations are found, among other places, in 200 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka and eight north-eastern states.
Under the framework, the states and union territories have been urged to include malaria eradication in their broader health policies and planning framework.