Amid ongoing plans to eliminate malaria, experts have found the incidence of malaria in India is 0.66 cases per one thousand population last year.

Official sources say in the year 2017, reported malaria cases have declined by 23% as compared to 2016 in India.

As per the World Malaria Report 2017 of the World Health Organization (WHO), the estimated malaria cases from India are 87% in South East Asia region.

Malaria is mainly concentrated in the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Orissa, and Tripura because of the inaccessible terrain – many areas get cut off post-monsoon, the presence of efficient vectors – mosquito that transmits malaria and difficult terrain because of which malaria continues to be high in many pockets.

Global Technical Strategy (2016-30) announced by WHO and adopted by World Health Assembly in May 2015 calls for malaria elimination by 2030.

According to the Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare) Ashwini Kumar, the Government has unveiled a plan to eliminate Malaria by 2030. The National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030 document launched on 11th February 2016, lays out the vision, mission, broad principles and practices to achieve the target of malaria elimination by 2030 synchronizing with the Global Technical Strategy (GTS).

The Government has drafted National Strategic Plan for malaria elimination (2017-2020) wherein the country has been stratified based on the malaria burden into four categories – category 0 to category 3 and based on this the intervention of malaria control and prevention are being strengthened.

Interventions that are being strengthened are Early diagnosis and complete treatment; Case-based surveillance and rapid response; Integrated vector management; Indoor residual spray (IRS); Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs)/ Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs); Larval source management (LSM); Epidemic preparedness and early response; Monitoring & Evaluation; Advocacy, coordination and partnerships; Behavior change communication (BCC) and Community mobilization and programme planning & management.

India’s National Health Policy recognizes the key role that research plays in the development of a nation’s health. The India TB Research Consortium brings together diverse stakeholders to develop new tools – diagnostics, vaccines and drugs – to enable the country to take a leadership role in fast tracking translational TB research and find solutions for the world.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan (Secretary, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Director General, ICMR) recently at the second International Scientific Advisory Group (ISAG) meeting, states India has the highest number of TB cases in the world. It is widely recognised that the field needs new tools to make a greater impact on this disease, including more sensitive diagnosis, preventive vaccines and new drugs to treat MDR-TB.

The India Tuberculosis Research Consortium (ITRC), formed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Delhi convened its second International Scientific Advisory Group (ISAG) meeting.

The ISAG comprises global experts in the areas of TB research and has been formed to advise the ITRC on developing and translating, research & development leads across four key thematic areas – diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics and implementation research – taking into account the research leads in each area, available both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Barry R. Bloom (Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University and Chair, ISAG) addressing the meeting states, “TB is now the largest single cause of death in the world from an infectious disease.

Hence, the Government of India has made a significant commitment to support research to prevent and control the disease in India.” India’s National Strategic Plan 2017 for TB elimination aims to achieve and maintain a cure rate of >85% in new sputum positive patients for TB and reduce incidence of new cases, to reach elimination status by the year 2025.

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