Sandeep Mishra
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 19: Malaria has claimed two more lives in the state taking the toll due to the vector borne disease to 13 this year. Both the deaths were reported from Sundargarh district this time
Tribal districts of Orissa are the worst-hit as very high number of positive cases has been reported from Mayurbhanj followed by Ganjam, Keonjhar, Rayagada and Sundargarh.
About 37,000 people were tested malaria positive in Mayurbhanj while the number stood at 29,000 in Ganjam. Keonjhar reported around 24,000 positive cases while 24,129 and 24,040 people in Rayagada and Sundargarh districts were down with the disease respectively.
The state has been consistently witnessing two deaths each month for the past three months whereas five persons have died of the disease in January. The deaths in March were recorded from Rayagada and Sambalpur districts while in February it was from Jharsuguda and Mayurbhanj.
The state government’s ambitious Mo Masari Yojana is proved futile as it yielded no substantive results. “Mo Masari Yojana was meant to distribute mosquito nets and repellents to the people especially in the tribal regions. The failure of the scheme could be attributed to both public and government,” said an official here.
After the partial failure of Mo Masari Yojna, the state government had planned to introduce a new scheme called ‘DaMaNa’ (Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakarana). However, the introduction of the scheme is yet to happen.
The proposed scheme would be implemented in eight tribal districts – Malkangiri, Koraput, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Sundargarh, Kalahandi and Nuapada in the first phase.
The programme would be extended to other districts depending on the efficacy of the scheme, revealed sources at health department.
