CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, July 7: There has been a decline in the cases of malaria in the city in the last three years. Hospitals in the city have seen a decline in the number of patients who are admitted with the symptoms of malaria.
The civil surgeon of Sadar Hospital Ranchi, Vinod Kumar, has said that currently there is an almost negligible number of malaria cases in Ranchi as compared to the last few years.
“The cases of malaria reported in the hospital are very small. There are hardly one or two such cases that are reported in a week. Similarly, the cases of dengue have also gone down, and till now no cases of dengue have been reported, “he said.
Earlier, state health minister Banna Gupta said in a statement, “Jharkhand is one of the five states in the country where the highest number of malaria cases are reported.” Apart from Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Meghalaya have the highest number of cases of vector-borne disease. In 2019, these states accounted for 45.47 per cent of all malaria cases in the country. Amidst these challenges, Jharkhand has made remarkable progress in reducing the malaria burden, and the number of malaria cases in the state has decreased between 2017 and 2021.
However, despite the low number of cases, the doctors have given the advice to follow necessary precautions during the monsoon as the cases of malaria can only be prevented by keeping the surroundings clean. Some of the major precautionary measures suggested are: keeping the surrounding garbage-free; applying mosquito repellent with DEET (diethyltoluamide) to exposed skin; draping mosquito netting over beds; putting nets on windows and doors; wearing long pants and long sleeves to cover your skin etc.
The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) is also taking necessary actions during the monsoon as fogging drives have been conducted at regular intervals in various localities of the city to curb the growth of mosquitoes.
