Mysore/Mysuru:  With Mysuru district recording almost nil Malaria cases, a Central team arrived in city yesterday on a two-day tour of the district  to evaluate the proposal for official declaration of Mysuru as Malaria-free district.

An Independent Assessment Committee comprising two representatives of the Union Government and four from the State Government received inputs on complete Malaria eradication at the District Vector-borne Disease Control Office located in NPC Hospital campus, at Nazarbad in city yesterday.

The Assessment Committee  is led by Dr. Smitha Rawat, senior Health Officer of the Regional Health Centre run by the Union Government. The other members of the Committee included Technician K. Ravikumar of the Regional Health Centre, Dr. Nagaraj, Research Officer of the National Vector-borne Diseases Control Office of the State Government, Dr. Usha, a Virologist, Health  Officer K.P. Srinivasmurthy and Health Inspector B.C. Dayananda.

The team which went through the records and documents at the Vector-borne Diseases Control Office, later visited MMC&RI and JSS Medical College, for an inspection to find out whether there were any cases of Malaria.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Committee member Dr. Nagaraj said the State Government was working towards making the entire State Malaria-free by 2025. Explaining the measures taken by the Government for total eradication of Malaria, he said the State Government has worked out plans to ensure that there is no Malaria outbreak at the local level, as the State has many migrants.

Pointing out that the Committee will follow the guidelines for evaluation, he said that the Committee, after a though scrutiny and inspection, will come up with a report that will be forwarded to the Union Government on recommending the district for Malaria-free declaration. Subsequently, another expert team of the Centre will carry out its own inspection, following which it will submit a final report on Malaria-free declaration, Dr. Nagaraj said adding that the district will get a month’s time to rectify any minor lapses that are found by the Assessment Committee.

Maintaining that no districts in the State have been declared Malaria-free thus far, he noted that, however, Mysuru district has not reported any local Malaria cases in the past three years.

The Independent Assessment Committee team will tour several taluks of the State today for carrying out the evaluation. The Assessment  Committee will visit select Hospitals and Primary Health Centres for factual assessment, before preparing its evaluation report.