The Hindu 19.10.2010
Mangalore corporation fails to seek aid for malaria control
Sudipto Mondal
| Funds available under vector-borne disease programme |
OPAQUE OPERATIONS:Lack of transparency in the implementation of malaria control programmes
MANGALORE: The Union Government spends several crores of rupees every year to control malaria under the National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP).
But Mangalore, which accounts for 20 to 25 per cent of the State's malaria incidence, has never sought Central aid.
Under the programme, the Union Government supplies essentials such as anti-larval and anti-adult mosquito chemicals as well as laboratory equipment such as lancets, slides and needles free of cost. But the Mangalore City Corporation's Health Department has not made use of this scheme. On the contrary, it has spent Rs. 1.5 crore on procuring these items from private suppliers. The corporation has spent over Rs. 4 crore on the malaria control programme in the city in the past five years.
The city registered 4,600 cases of malaria and one death since January this year. “If the Central aid had been used, the money saved could have been spent on hiring more field health workers to create awareness,” said physician Shantaram Baliga.
According to District Malaria Officer Arun Kumar, there should be 60 malaria field workers but the corporation has hired only 13 for want of funds.
Srinivas Kakkilaya, who runs a medical blog, www.malariasite.com, said pumping the affected region with chemical pesticides was a practice that was on the wane. Chemicals should be used only as the last resort, and the national policy was to create awareness among the affected people. “If you do not have the manpower, how can you create awareness,” asked Dr. Baliga. Corporation Health Officer Manjaiah Shetty said, “I have never heard of such a thing as Central aid for malaria control.”
C. Anbazhagan, Karnataka's Regional Director for the programme, said the Central aid was reserved only for rural areas.
T.S. Cheluvaraj, State's Joint Director (Malaria and Filariasis), agreed with Dr. Anbazhagan and said that only seven cities in the State were eligible for Central support. (But these cities are covered under the Urban Malaria Scheme and not under the vector-borne disease control programme).
But the practice in other States casts a shadow over the claims made by Karnataka's officials.
When The Hindu contacted A.K. Chakraborty, the programme's Regional Director for West Bengal, he said the urban local bodies in that State got as much chemicals and equipment as they wanted. S.K. Choudhary, his counterpart in Uttar Pradesh, said, “The urban local bodies must submit their projected requirements through their State Government one year in advance.” K.K. Mathur, Regional Director of Rajasthan, said the same practice was prevalent there.
Dr. Kakkilaya said, “The whole operation lacks transparency.”
