BS RAWAT
NEW DELHI: An anti-malaria research by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR-NIMR), National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Odisha and Medicines for Malaria Venture has shown a 90% decline in average monthly malaria cases in four districts of Odisha.

The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of ICMR. National Institute of Malaria Research asserted that malaria incidence reduced in Odisha due to intensive intervention activities targeted at improved access to malaria diagnosis and treatment.

Prof Balram Bhargava, director general ICMR, who released the study report, said, “Comprehensive case management programme (CCMP) is a sustainable model for improving access to malaria control tools in remote areas. Other states could take a cue from this and intensify efforts towards malaria elimination.”

He said, “ICMR has been carrying out research that has been relevant to the elimination of various diseases from the country and CCMP is an example of such research.”

The ICMR project was started in 2013 in pairs of intervention and control blocks in four districts namely Angul, Dhenkanal, Kandhamal and Dolangir with different transmission intensities and catered to a population of 9,00,000 people in Odisha.

The project strictly implemented the World Health Organization’s Test-Treat-Track initiative that advised malaria-endemic nations to scale up diagnostic testing, treatment and surveillance for the disease.

Dr. Neena Valecha, Director, National Institute of Malaria Research, told DTMT, “Improving surveillance and taking care of difficult to reach areas played a crucial role in controlling spread of the disease in Odisha.”

She said, “In Odisha, the five-year collaborative operational research programme with the state NVBDCP had served as a “living laboratory for the project of improved malaria case management.”