Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Malaria

Mains level: Read the attached story

malaria

Malaria is all set to become a notifiable disease across India, which will require cases to be reported to government authorities by law.

About Malaria

	Description
Definition	A potentially life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted through the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes
Causes	Four species of plasmodium parasites, namely plasmodium vivax, plasmodium falciparum, plasmodium malariae, and plasmodium ovale
Spread	Bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes
Symptoms	Fever, chills, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting
Diagnosis	Blood test
Treatment	Antimalarial drugs
Prevention	Insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, wearing protective clothing, using mosquito repellent, avoiding mosquito bites
Vaccine	RTS,S/AS01 (Mosquirix)

Why in news?

The move is part of India’s vision to become malaria-free by 2027 and to eliminate the disease by 2030.

In India, 80% of malaria cases occur among 20% of its population living in the 200 high-risk districts of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and the seven north-eastern states.
With only fewer than half of those infected reaching a clinic or hospital, the cases and deaths are much higher than recorded.

A notifiable disease is a disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities.
In India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare maintains a list of notifiable diseases under the National Health Mission.
This is done to track the spread of the disease and to take necessary measures to control and prevent its spread.
Reporting notifiable diseases is important for public health surveillance and response to outbreaks.

Malaria is currently a notifiable disease in 33 states and Union Territories in India.
Bihar, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Meghalaya are in the process of putting malaria in the notifiable disease category.

Malaria Elimination Programme: The government has launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination in India 2016-2030 to eliminate malaria from the country by 2030.
Joint Action Plan: The Health Ministry has initiated a joint action plan with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for malaria elimination in tribal areas. This plan aims to bring down malaria cases to zero in tribal areas, which are among the most vulnerable to the disease.
HIP-Malaria Portal: The Ministry has ensured the availability of near-real-time data monitoring through an integrated health information platform and periodic regional review meetings to keep a check on malaria growth across India.

The WHO has approved the rollout of two first-generation malaria vaccines, RTS,S and R21, in high-transmission African countries.
Bharat Biotech, an Indian company, has been licensed to manufacture the RTS,S vaccine, with adjuvant provided by GSK.
The R21 vaccine, developed by scientists at Oxford University, has shown promising results in phase 2 clinical studies and has been approved by regulatory authorities in Ghana and Nigeria.
Scientists at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in New Delhi have developed and produced two experimental blood-stage malaria vaccines, with Phase I clinical trials completed for one of them.