J&K soon will be malaria free, no +ve case reported so far this year
The massive awareness campaigns launched by the administration over the years remained result oriented due to which Jammu and Kashmir is set to be malaria free in the coming couple of years while no positive case of the epidemic has been reported so far this year.
Official sources in the Health and Medical Education Department said that aggressive awareness campaigns launched by the Department and the awareness about cleanliness among the people, resulted in making Jammu and Kashmir malaria free very soon.
“Last year, the lowest malaria cases were registered in 10 years and at the same time, not a single case has come up in the first three and a half months of the current year,” they said.
Official sources however, claimed that in the last 20 years, no patient has died due to malaria in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The campaign for malaria-free Jammu and Kashmir will continue,” they said adding that 11 years ago, in 2011, 1091 cases of malaria were registered in Jammu and Kashmir including included 1046 cases of Plasmodium Vivax (PV) and 46 cases of Plasmodium Falciparum (PF).
Thereafter, the cases continuously declined, adding, “in the year 2014, the cases came down to 201 whereas in 2020 for the first time less than a 100 cases were reported across the Union territory.”
Experts said that malaria is caused by the bite of female Anopheles mosquito and the most dangerous are considered to be Plasmodium Falciparum and Plasmodium Vivax but these cases are less in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Due to the continuous campaigns, the cases of malaria are continuously decreasing,” said an official adding that assisted by the committees of Jammu Municipal Corporation and other cities and towns, campaigns are also conducted to carry cleanliness drives.
“Health Department has to treat the patient. Everyone needs to support them so that mosquitoes do not breed,” said an official.
Focus remained in making people aware of endemic diseases while programs will also be held in collaboration with Panchayati Raj Institutions and awareness campaigns and competitions in schools and other educational institutions are also to be organized to make people more aware about malaria and its prevention, they added.
