The prickly shadow of malaria hangs over the lusofonia Games scheduled to be held in Goa towards the middle of January with the State Health authorities grappling to control an outbreak in the area surrounding the stadium that will serve for the inaugural ceremony.
With Goa hosting the Games which witnesses participation of all Portuguese speaking nations and former Portuguese colonies and territories, the authorities will need make sure that the foreign athletes will remain free from the once dreaded disease known as the ‘white man’s killer’.
“About 70 per cent of the cases detected at UHC (urban health centre), Margao were from migrant construction workers especially at the Nehru Stadium and near ongoing works of Hospicio Hospital, Margao,” a Press statement issued by the State Health department has said.
The Nehru Stadium used to host mainly football and the odd international cricket match, is located near Margao, in South Goa district and is one of Goa’s oldest stadiums and will host the inaugural ceremony as well as football Games when the lusofonia Games begin in January.
Among the countries participating in the 2013 in Goa are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Macau (China), Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe. Equatorial Guinea, India and Sri lanka are associate members of the Games.
The threat of malaria is one of the biggest fears of Caucasians when they travel to tropical climates and regions.
The Games have already acquired infamy on grounds of delayed infrastructure, which led to postponement of the games.
The State of Goa’s claims a remarkable record in bringing down the incidence of vector borne diseases bringing down the incidence from over 10,000 cases per year to less than a thousand over the last few years.