Not a single death due to malaria has been reported in Lanjigarh block of Odisha's Kalahandi district in the past two years, Health department sources said.
"Zero malaria death in the block is a great achievement. The awareness programmes taken up jointly by the Health department and Vedanta have yielded good results," says Dr Swapna Sarit, Block Medical Officer, Lanjigarh.
Even cases of paediatric malaria have gone down by around 50 per cent over past few years in the area located in malaria endemic zone.
Joint efforts by the Health department and Vedanta Aluminium at Lanjigarh in the backward district have been able to script this success story, sources said.
"The medical unit from Vedanta and district medical team have been working relentlessly spreading awareness about the ill-effects of mosquito bite and the benefits of keeping their surroundings clean. This has resulted in a sharp drop in cases of malaria among children and pregnant women," says Dr Sabita Swain, Chief Medical Officer, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd.
According to experts, the block is a part of the malaria endemic zone and most adults here carry traces of malaria parasite in their blood.
