KMC takes up spl drive to eradicate malaria from city

kolkata: Undertaking a special drive, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has pledged to eradicate malaria from the city on World Mosquito Day (August 20).

On 20 August, 1897 Ronald Ross made the epoch discovery about the transmission of malaria by mosquito bite. He got the Nobel Prize for the same in 1902.

Reaching zero malaria target is the theme for the World Mosquito Day 2021. According to WHO, around 219 million cases of malaria are detected every year globally, of which 0.4 million people die of the disease.

The KMC has taken up a special drive to eradicate malaria from the city. Besides conducting house-to-house visits by the KMC teams, awareness campaigns are being conducted throughout the year urging people not to

store water and use mosquito nets at night. The KMC has opened malaria clinics across the city, where blood tests are done free-of-cost. Free medicines are given to the patients suffering from malaria. It has identified wards that are affected with the disease and special drives are conducted in these areas.

The KMC has a well-knit vector control department. In early 1990s, malaria, particularly malignant malaria, had broken out in vast areas of Bhowanipore and Kalighat. There was not a single house in these areas, in which people did not suffer from malignant malaria.

To combat the disease, plans had been chalked out. After TMC came to power in KMC in 2010, schemes were taken up to eradicate malaria. The civic authorities are

successful and the number of malaria cases has dropped sharply. There has not been a single death from malignant malaria in the past three years.

KMC has requested people to keep their houses and neighbourhood clean and visit the KMC clinics if people are found to be suffering from fever along with nausea and headache.