Khurda: Despite preventive measures to eradicate malaria from Khurda district the mosquito-borne disease has affected a large number of people here with health department officials remaining mute spectators.
Reports said that 924 persons out of 3,64,612 were diagnosed malaria positive in the past 17 months in the district. Besides, of the blood samples collected from 1,10,512 persons suffering from fever from January to May, 179 were found to be malaria positive.
As per data collected from Community Health Centres (CHCs) in the district, out of 10,824 persons, 147 tested malaria positive in Banapur CHC.
Malaria cases were also reported from Balugaon (two out of 8452), Bankoi (five out of 10,351), Haladia (one out of 7562), Mendhasala (one out of 6,818), Balakati (1 out of 8,517) and Bhubaneswar (nine out of 6309).
Five persons tested malaria positive out of 589 at the Khurda District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) while eight out of 4152 were found suffering from malaria at the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.
Social activists allege that lack of awareness programmes in rural areas has led to the alarming situation. According to them, the figures in the records are just the tip of the iceberg and that the actual number of malaria cases and deaths is considerably higher.
They expressed unhappiness over the official records on malaria positive cases which exclude deaths. They alleged that deaths due to malaria don’t get to the records as officials cite other reasons for these.
They also said the government had distributed Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) to some households in remote areas, but families provided with the LLINs hardly bother about them and consequently malaria is spreading in the district.
Khurda chief district medical officer (CDMO) Bharati Bhusan Baral said, “After distribution of LLINs the number of malaria cases has come down and the government has decided not to distribute more nets.”
He said that ‘Gaon Kalyan Samitis’ in villages are on alert in their areas and the government is carrying out awareness programmes to sensitise people and eliminate malaria.
Baral denied the allegation of manipulation of causes of death in malaria cases. He said, “No such case has been reported so far. If such a case comes to my notice it will be dealt with strictly.”
PNN