Maharashtra govt to soon declare malaria a notifiable diseaseBy Vicky Pathare, Pune Mirror | Updated: May 6, 2018, 06.54 AM IST It will be mandatory for health sector stakeholders to report cases to state.
The state government has been striving to intensify its fight against
malaria. Strengthening the mission and following the footprints of other
states such as Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, it has now come to the
fore that malaria will be classified as a notifiable disease in
Maharashtra.
The state has set a target of eliminating malaria by 2025 as against the
national target of 2030. In order to achieve this, the state needs
immediate updates on patients diagnosed with the disease from private
hospitals and doctors. Once malaria becomes a notifiable disease, it
will be mandatory for private medical practitioners, private hospitals
and pathological labs to notify these cases to the government health
department. The draft for declaring malaria a notifiable disease is with
the state government and the notification is expected to be issued
soon.
Dr Sanjeev Kamble, director of health services, said, “At present, swine
flu, dengue, chikungunya and leptospirosis are notifiable diseases and
now malaria will be added to the list. Once this is declared, it will be
mandatory for health sector stakeholders like doctors, hospitals and
diagnostic facilities to report cases of vector-borne disease to state
authorities.”
Maharashtra had recorded 23,938 positive cases of malaria in 2016, of
which 7,815 were plasmodium falciparum (PF), which is a more severe
strain. The number of deaths reported was 26. In 2017, the total number
of positive cases reported were 17,710 (5,629 were PF cases) and 20
deaths were recorded. Up to April 21, 2018, a total of 1,748 patients
had been tested positive for malaria, including 351 for PF. This year no
deaths due to malaria have been recorded so far.
Kamble continued, “The health department officials will be empowered to
enter construction sites to check if the locations are breeding grounds
for mosquitoes and take blood samples of suspected patients with
malaria. This will help in finding malaria cases and an outbreak can be
prevented.”
Talking about the decision, Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, deputy director of
health services, Pune region, shared, “Until now, malaria patients being
treated in private healthcare sector are not recorded. Once these
details are shared with the government, it will help the officials to
focus on specific areas where risks of outbreak are higher. Due to
urbanisation, recurring cases of malaria are coming to light. There are
also construction sites which become permanent breeding spots for
mosquitoes. Areas that lack adequate cleanliness and have accumulated
water are the spots where mosquito breeding takes place.”
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