World Malaria Day 2017 gets World Health Organization to place special focus on prevention of Malaria. This appears to be a critical strategy to assist in reducing the burden of a disease that continues to kill people every year! The new report put forth by WHO suggests the tools to be put to use for the prevention of the deadly disease.
The approach is firstly to focus on core vector control measures. And secondly, to work on the preventive treatment strategies for more vulnerable people affected by the disease. The current strategy also aims to address the biological threat of mosquito resistance to insecticides! Also we need to focus on innovative anti-malaria tools.
It was in May 2007 the WHO established World Malaria Day in the 60th session of the World Health Assembly that is WHO’s decision-making body. The day is meant to educate and understand malaria and earmarked for spreading information on sustained intensified implementation of malaria-control strategies.
For us in India, World Malaria Day is certainly very important and a health issue that needs continued attention. Health departments must commit for malaria prevention and control. They need to include community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in endemic areas.
Ahead of World Malaria Day today, April 25 2017, WHO has been looking at long lasting insecticide treated mosquito net that is being described as an effective way of preventing malaria. The plan is to advocate use of mosquito nets in a big way, especially in regions of the world where the disease is rampant.
World Malaria Day is therefore focusing on mosquito nets as a most effective way to prevent malaria. The new found treated mosquito nets form a protective barrier around people sleeping under it. The insecticide in it not only kills mosquitoes, which carry the malaria parasites and other insects, but also repels mosquitoes. Thus treated mosquito nets are an effective means of preventing malaria occurrences.
Aside from such preventive measures there a certain basic things we need to take care of. It is essential to keep the environmental sanitation in place. Mosquitoes as we well know breed in dirty, wet environments. It is therefore important to safeguard our health from not only malaria but also be safe from transmission of other infections like Zika virus, chikungunya virus, yellow fever and dengue fever.
World Malaria Day is therefore a clarion call to safeguard ourselves from all mosquito-transmitted diseases. It is a day that highlights the need to inform one and all on the need to learn to avoid mosquitoes and to keep our immediate environment absolutely clean. HERD Foundation joins in the efforts to spread awareness about the importance of World Malaria Day.