‘Massive campaign to wipe out malaria’ 

TIRUVANANTHAPURAM :  The state government will make all efforts to make the state ‘malaria-free’ by 2020, Health Minister K K Shylaja said here on Wednesday.At the inaugural function of the Health Department’s Malaria Eradication Campaign, the Minister also urged health workers to remain proactive to get rid of malaria-related casualties in the state by the end of 2018. While soliciting people’s participation in realising the objective, she said a massive campaign is being planned.

“The government acknowledges the services of migrant labourers in the state’s construction sector. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure their well-being. The malaria eradication campaign is part of that promise,” Shylaja said at the function organised at the Olympia Chambers Hall at Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium.According to the Minister, the department is in the process of addressing rising instances of lifestyle and communicable diseases in the state. Various programmes are being chalked out with the help of other departments. She also said the pre-monsoon drive against communicable diseases like dengue is in full swing.

Earlier, the department had come out with a data saying that, for the past several years, the number of malaria-affected cases being reported in the state is between 1,000 to 2,000. The casualties being reported are two to three persons. Of the total cases being reported in the state, about 90 to 95 per cent could be categorised as imported malaria as it is being spread by people from other states.  The Centre, in response to the Global Technical Strategy of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has called for malaria elimination by 2030.