Padmavati Prabhu
Panaji
As the country is set to observe the World Malaria Day on Friday, there is some positive news for the state: there have been no new indigenous cases since 2022, which has put Goa in the elimination
phase of malaria.
“As far as the malaria is concerned, Goa has not reported any indigenous cases, and there have been no deaths due to malaria since 2018 onwards. So, Goa is already in the elimination stage,” said Dr Kalpana Mahatme, state programme officer and deputy director of the National Vector Borne Disease Control
Programme (NVBDCP).
“The Goa Public Health Act has been an advantage for the state,” she reckoned, adding that Goa had last reported two indigenous cases in the
year 2022.
Currently, all health centres as well as sub-centres have reported zero annual parasitic incidence (API), which means that the positivity is zero.
The strategy Goa follows for malaria elimination is active surveillance, screening and information, education, and communication (IEC), Dr
Mahatme said.
“Besides, Goa has already sought sub-national malaria elimination status for South Goa district, and all the required data has been submitted to the Centre,” she informed.
Dr Mahatme however pointed out that Goa sees imported cases of malaria due to the large influx of the migrant population.
“We are taking proactive steps to protect our indigenous population from malaria. Goa’s annual blood examination rate (ABER) is 25.21.
“So every imported case of malaria that we get is notified to the state programme officer of the state from where we have received the case so that they can take necessary measures to control the spread of malaria in the respective area,” she said.
Additionally, to sustain zero indigenous cases status, Goa is also conducting screening in the spillover areas.
“The spillover areas are mainly the areas around the construction sites where we find cases. Goa is the only state which is monitoring these areas so that the indigenous population is not affected by malaria,” she said.
