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World Mosquito Day is observed every year on 20 August in honor of Sir Ronald Ross, a British doctor who discovered, in 1897, that female mosquitoes were responsible for the transmission of malaria. It points towards the need for the world to raise awareness about the causes of this potentially life-threatening disease and the ways it could be prevented.
According to the World Health Organisation, malaria occurs when a mosquito infected with the parasite Plasmodium bites someone. Four different types of malaria parasites could infect humans: Plasmodium vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. falciparum. The fourth is responsible for the most severe form of the disease, with a higher risk of death.
Since blood is the major transmission path, here are a few ways malaria could be contracted:
Some common symptoms:
The WHO estimates 2019 million reported malaria cases from 2017, with 435000 patients succumbing to the disease.
National Health Portal of India reports that the majority of malaria cases are reported from eastern and central part of the country and from states which have forest, hilly and tribal areas. These states include Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and some north-eastern states like Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. In India malaria cases have consistently declined from 2.08 million in 2001 to about 4 lakh in 2018. Of the countries hardest hit by malaria, only India showed progress in reducing its disease burden.
The Government of India launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination 2016-2030 in February 2016 and the National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination 2017-2022 in July 2017 with the support of the World Health Organisation.
Challenges such as funding, development of resistance among mosquitoes and parasites, lack of political and administrative will, and a lack of monitoring of the cases — all need to be addressed for further progress in bringing down the numbers.
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Published: 20 Aug 2019,09:49 AM IST