Initial successes apart, India needs to do more
It is heartening that the Government is taking strides to reach the 2030 deadline to make India malaria-free, though it remains a challenge given the many hurdles surrounding the goal. That India has the highest malaria cases after Africa and that it accounts for 70 per cent of malaria incidents in the southeast Asian region, is a cause of concern. But it’s remarkable that India has registered a decline in the number of malaria cases as well as deaths in the past decade. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India has nearly halved the number of reported malaria cases between 2000 and 2014, from two million to 1.1 million. But a global advisory group, consisting of senior officials from the Health Ministry, the World Health Organisation, and funders, which met in Chennai last week, to discuss strategies to deal with global malaria menace and take stock of India's efforts to eliminate the disease, said India would need an investment of $18 billion to eliminate this disease. The group cited “under-reporting of cases” and lack of “financial commitment” as major hurdles to fight this disease. Sadly, malaria, which is often referred to as the disease of the poor and the powerless, often goes unreported, perhaps because it applies to places where health workers are often not able to reach — in rural areas where people prefer sleeping in open skies and are even resistant to use mosquito nets. There is a huge gap between India's malaria narrative as presented in Government data and the actual burden. The group predicted that the actual numbers are nine to 50 times higher than what has been reported to the Government. In fact, statistics showing a fall in malaria burden in itself points towards the need for the Government and also various healthcare agencies to keep up the momentum through increased financial aid, especially in rural areas. Efforts must be made to improve infrastructure; medicines made available in the remotest part of the country; hygiene and sanitation conditions should be upgraded; and more healthcare workers must be deployed. Besides, the Government, in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, has to spread awareness campaigns so that more people report the disease and receive prompt treatment.
The Government has already rolled out the National Framework for Malaria Elimination early this year, and plans to fight the menace in a phased manner. This is welcome; such efforts can be successful only if determined efforts are undertaken to establish progress in controlling and eventually eradicating malaria. The Government's rhetoric must meet reality soon. India can learn from Sri lanka’s recent success in being declared as a ‘malaria-free’ country by the WHO. Strong political leadership that focuses on the implementation of a slew of healthcare policies with increased financial commitment, is the need of hour to fight the deadly vector-borne disease.