Every year, the World Malaria Day is celebrated on April 25 by the World Health Organisation and several other international organisations. This year, the World Malaria Day is to be celebrated under the following theme:
Theme: Reaching the Zero Malaria Target
World Malaria Day
The World Malaria Day is one of the eleven official Global Public Health campaigns marked by the World Health Organisation The other ten are World AIDS Day, World Hepatitis Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Chagas Disease Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Patients Safety Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Health Day, and World Antimicrobial Awareness Week.
The World Malaria Day was established by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly. Earlier it was widely known as the African Malaria Day.
Malaria
Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasite. The disease spreads to the humans through the bite of female Anopheles mosquito.
Malaria in India
According to the World Health Organisation, India represents to 3% of the global malaria. India once nearly eliminated Malaria. However, Malaria came back to India in the beginning of twenty first century. In 2009, there were 1.5 million Malarial cases in India. India has set a target of becoming Malaria free country by 2027 and malaria elimination by 2030.
National Strategic Plan for Elimination of Malaria
The plan was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The above target was set under this plan. The plan is designed based on the Global Technical Strategy of Malaria (2016-2030).
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently announced that, in 2020, 116 Indian districts reported zero malaria cases.
Malaria Elimination
Malaria has been eliminated in Europe, United States, parts of Asia and Latin America. However, the disease is re-emerging in these regions as drug-resistant and insecticide-resistant.