The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Donated blood to be tested for malarial parasite

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 20, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Donated blood to be tested for malarial parasite

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JAN. 19. The Chennai Corporation will soon start checking blood being donated in the Government General Hospital for malarial parasite.

Though mandatory, health officials said some private hospitals and blood banks are not screening blood. They consider the procedure unimportant, say health officials.

The civic agency said it was equipped to test all blood donations made in the Government Hospital.

According to statistics recorded by the Corporation from its 36 diagnostic centres and leading private hospitals, the number of malaria cases in the city has been above the 27,000-mark for three years now.

Though the situation has improved greatly since 1993, when more than 76,000 cases were reported, the number of malarial infections can be reduced further, say the officials.

As part of its long-term strategy for a "Malaria-free Chennai," launched in 2004, the Corporation has indexed 39,555 overhead tanks. If left uncovered, these tanks can become breeding grounds for malaria-causing anopheles.

More than 4,100 overhead tanks have been sealed hermetically. Assistant health officers of all 10 Corporation zones have been asked to ensure that every month 200 more overhead tanks are similarly sealed.

The Corporation officials point out that the successive drought in Chennai might have led to a stagnation in the number of malaria cases. Health Officer (in-charge), S. Krishna, said storage of water in open vessels, a common practice during drought, could lead to increased mosquito breeding.

In North Chennai, several areas falling under Zone I (Tondiarpet), Zone II (Basin Bridge) and Zone III (Pulianthope) remain endemic to malaria even today, mainly because of keeping open water-filled vessels.

`Remove encroachments'

Doctors and experts said a visible reduction of the mosquito menace in the city would be possible only if the State Government seriously took up removal of encroachments along the Adyar and the Cooum banks and along canals.

Though malaria-causing female anopheles bred only in fresh water, other mosquitoes thrived in dirty water along the river banks.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu