Malaria Map Identifies 60 Endemic Districts in India
India's National Vector-Borne Disease Control Program recently released the country's first malaria map, which identifies areas that have the highest rates of malaria transmission, the Times of India reports. The map, which took about three months to complete, identifies 60 malaria-endemic districts that collectively report more than 50% of the country's malaria cases. Many of the districts are in northeastern states, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. Researchers used a mathematical model to divide villages in the districts into low, medium, high and very high prevalence categories.
Villages that recorded more than three cases per 1,000 people and where 30% to 50% of the cases were Plasmodium falciparum malaria were considered to be low prevalence. Villages that reported five malaria cases per 1,000 people and where at least 50% of the cases were P. falciparum malaria were considered to be very high prevalence. Houses in high-risk villages are being sprayed with the pesticide DDT and synthetic pyretheroids, according to the Times. Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets are being distributed to people in the country's most remote villages.
Disease Control Program Director GPS Dhillon said that the map "pinpoints the villages which need aggressive control and containment strategies immediately." He added that the map will help "maximize our resources, as we will now focus our malaria eradication efforts in these endemic villages." Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss called malaria "one of India's foremost public health threats," adding that the map will help to "better control and contain" the disease. According to Ramadoss, there are about two million malaria cases annually in the country, and 1,000 deaths from the disease are recorded each year (Sinha, Times of India, 3/10).
