The Hindu    23.08.2012

‘Include Mangalore in urban malaria scheme’

Congress leader P.V. Mohan has asked Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to include Mangalore in the list of towns covered under the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme’s Urban Malaria Scheme.

In a letter to Mr. Azad, Mr. Mohan said Mangalore had the highest number of malaria cases among the urban areas in the country. Though nearly 600 malaria cases were detected annually, only about three per cent of them were being reported to the authorities. Malaria infections and deaths in the city were going unreported because of the fear of recrimination or reprisal, he said.

Mr. Mohan said measures taken to tackle malaria in the city were not enough. Mangalore should be included in the list of urban areas covered under the urban malaria scheme. Presently, the scheme covered 131 towns in 19 States and a Union Territory. He asked the Union Minister to send a team of experts for evaluation of malaria cases in the city and also find lapses in the malaria control programme. He expressed the need for a Technical Nodal Office of the National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP).