India to see decrease in malaria cases: WHO

AP A Delhi Municipal employee fumigates the ground, in this 2011 file photo.

India, the country most affected by malaria in the South East Asian Region, is projected to see a decrease of 50-75 per cent in malaria case incidence by 2015, a report by the World Health Organisation said.

The WHO’s World Malaria Report 2012 said a concerted effort by endemic countries, donors and global malaria partners during the past decade has led to strengthened malaria control around the world.

However, it warned that a significant slowdown in global funding of anti-malaria campaigns threatens to roll back the gains made against the preventable mosquito-borne disease over the last 10 years.

In South East Asia Region, Bhutan, Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand have registered decreases of 75 per cent or more in the incidence of microscopically confirmed malaria incidence rates between 2000 and 2011.

“India, the country with the highest number of cases in the region, is projected to achieve decreases of 50-75 per cent in malaria case incidence by 2015,” the report said.

India, Nepal and Thailand could also potentially move from the “control” to the “pre-elimination” phase by continuing their progress, assuring that “all malaria cases are laboratory-confirmed and including the private sector in the health reporting system.”

India has been taking measures like providing insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) and long-lasting insecticidal nets in affected areas.

The number of patients tested by microscopic examination increased to a peak of 171 million in 2011, with India accounting for over 108 million blood slide examinations.

Outside Africa, 54 million ITNs were distributed from 2009 to 2011, with six countries accounting for 70 per cent of the total: India 18.4 million, Indonesia 6.5 million, Afghanistan 4.6 million, Myanmar 3.6 million, Philippines 3 million and China 2.2 million.

According to the Report, 50 countries around the world are on track to reduce their malaria case incidence rates by 75 per cent by 2015 in line with World Health Assembly and Roll Back Malaria targets.

However, these nations only represent three per cent or seven million of the malaria cases that were estimated to have occurred in 2000, the benchmark against which progress is measured.

The report indicates that international funding for malaria appears to have reached a plateau well below the level required to reach the health-related Millennium Development Goals and other internationally-agreed global malaria targets.