Malaria haunts 29 cities

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 10. There is not a single city where one is free from mosquitoes and malaria, going by the findings of an expert committee set up by the Central Government.

The panel has, identified 29 cities across the country as being prone to malaria, including the six metropolitan cities - Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta and Mumbai.

The other cities that share the dubious distinction are: Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, Bhopal, Lucknow, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Vadodra, Jaipur and Jodhpur.

The list includes several towns such as Erode, Dindigul and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Bellary in Karnataka, Bharuch, Dohad, and Godhra in Gujarat, Bharatpur in Rajasthan, Rourkela and Sambalpur in Orissa, Nabha in Punjab, Chaibasa in Bihar and Dimapur in Nagaland.

The Union Health Ministry has reported that last year there was an increase in the incidence of falciparum malaria, the more pernicious variety of the disease, across the country, though the total malaria cases had declined when compared to 1998.

According to the Ministry, the falciparum malaria cases had increased by 2.6 per cent, while malaria cases had come down by 3.16 per cent.

The Health Ministry has proposed to observe the annual anti- malaria month in June with greater vigour this summer.

A multi-tiered system, starting from the national to the district and block levels, and consisting of representatives of the industry, NGOs and medical profession besides senior Government officials, has been set up to plan, implement and monitor activities under the programme.

At the national level, a 23-member task force has been constituted for the purpose.

Headed by the Union Health Secretary, it includes representatives of Confederation of Indian Industry, Voluntary Health Association of India and Indian Medical Association.

The campaign theme would be `Malaria - everyone's concern' and would focus on early detection and prompt treatment.

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