Malaria scourge now haunting hills

ILAM, April 26: The scourge of Malaria which was confined to the Tarai in the past has now been threatening the eastern hilly regions of the country.



The disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through mosquito bites was rare in the highlands. But, over the last few years, malaria has spread in hilly areas of the country as well.[break]



According to health workers, Malaria parasites, which are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes, are now being found in the hilly areas such as Ilam as well. Earlier, these mosquitoes were only found in places with temperatures between 20-30 degrees Celsius.



Recently, incidents of Malaria have been reported in Maipokhari, Jamuna and Soyang VDCs located at an altitude of over 2,000 meters from the sea-level where the temperature dips down to as low as 2 degrees Celsius in the winter, according to Ilam District Public Health Office.



“Malaria outbreak has become frequent in the district,” informed Bimal Baral, Vector Control Supervisor at DPHO. Pregnant women and small children below five years of age are most vulnerable to the malaria parasites. According to DPHO, 46 VDCs expect Mabu and Maijhuwa VDC are said to be at the risk of Malaria outbreaks.



Medical officer at DPHO Pradip Thapa informed that numerous incidents of the malaria have been reported in VDCs situated 1500 meter above the sea level.



Twenty-four people were diagnosed with malaria in 2010 in the district while the number had decreased to seven in 2011. However, 18 persons had tested positive for malaria last year. “If we fail to implement effective control mechanism to check malaria, the number of patients may increase further,” Baral opined.



The government has aimed to eradicate malaria from the country by 2026. However, the government has not done enough to control the disease expect for distributing treated mosquito nets, that too without teaching the people to use it properly.



Devi Gautam, chairman of Nepal Red Cross Society, Ilam, said the disease control efforts have not been fruitful as people have not be informed about the proper use of treated mosquito nets. The government should have trained the people to use treated nets before distributing them, added Gautam

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