As many as 10 wards in the Kochi Corporation have eliminated malaria even as four municipalities and 45 panchayats in Ernakulam district have joined the league of local bodies that have eliminated the disease.
The corporation wards that have been declared as having eliminated malaria are Fort Kochi, Eravely, Panayappilly, Nambyapuram, Fort Kochi Veli, Panampilly Nagar, Chalikkavattom, Kaloor North, Thattazham, and Ponekkara.
The three municipalities that have eliminated malaria are Aluva, North Paravur, Piravom, and Eloor, said Health department sources.
A senior Health department official, making a presentation before the corporation council here on Monday, said while COVID-19 was the most clear and present danger, there were other communicable diseases that needed attention. They include dengue fever and leptospirosis (rat fever).
Health officials said malaria elimination was being taken up on a priority basis and appealed to corporation councillors to work towards achieving the aim of declaring the entire corporation area as having eliminated malaria. Though there are no indigenous cases of malaria, there are imported cases. With the free flow of people in and out of the State, several steps are being taken up to eliminate malaria.
Training has been provided health workers to meet the target of eliminating the disease. Fever survey, random screening of those coming from outside the State and the local population, and random tests are being undertaken. Besides, vector studies are done.
The malaria elimination programme is part of a joint initiative of the World Health Organisation and the Union government. The programme has chosen Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts for the mission. They were chosen on the basis of the fact that no malaria deaths had been reported from the districts over the last five years.
