Mysore/Mysuru: The retired and present employees of Health Department, who have worked during the past 30 years towards the prevention and eradication of the once dreaded Malaria disease, were felicitated by the Department at a function held on Wednesday.

The programme to felicitate 10 past and present personnel of the Health Department, organised by the District Vector-Borne Diseases Control Office, was held at the premises of District Health and Family Welfare Department office premises at Nazarbad in city as part of ‘Anti Malaria Month’ being observed by the Department.

Retired officials Jayapal, Javari, N. Kempananjegowda, A. Thimmannachari, Dhanalakshmi, M. Srinivas, Wasim Ashwak, Nanjundaswamy, Narayana  and L. Mahadeva (Gunny) were felicitated by the senior officials of the Department who praised their services and hoped their work will inspire other employees of the Department.

Dr. S. Chidambara, District Vector-Borne Diseases Control Officer, who spoke on the occasion, said that every year, the month of June is observed as ‘Anti Malaria Month’ and programmes are being organised from June 1 to 30 to create awareness about Malaria disease as the month of June is associated with Monsoon and rainy season.

“During this season, the Plasmodium species which spread Malaria are found at places where water is collected and also during this season the breeding of Anopheles mosquito, whose bite causes Malaria, takes place. Everyone needs to be aware of this and the Department organises awareness programmes during the entire month of June. Fever is the main indication of Malaria and people, apart from getting protection from Malaria, should immediately go for medical check-up to rule out Malaria, once they have fever,” he advised.

Dr. Udaykumar, Joint Director, Department of Health and Family Welfare, who spoke on the occasion, opined that 2-3 Mosquitoes are enough to spread Malaria. “They lay eggs in stagnant water and reproduce, because of which there is a possibility of Malaria spreading rapidly. When I was working at Hunsur in 2017-18, Malaria was reported and I detected Plasmodia Virus in those who were suffering from fever,” he added.

He further said that we should not become complacent just because there are no Malaria cases for the last 5 years and create awareness among people about the disease and eradicate Malaria. “We should start the ‘Prevention of Malaria’ campaign with the slogan ‘Zero Malaria Starts from Me’ and take steps to prevent the spread of the disease. We must also remember the slogan ‘Fight the Bite’ and escape from Mosquito bite. There are many methods to kill Mosquitoes. Already, water sumps have been constructed at all Health centres to rear fish which feed on larva. This method also control the reproduction of Mosquitoes,” he  opined.

“We need to ensure that Mysuru district is freed from Malaria by 2025. Neighbouring districts should also become Malaria free and then we should commit ourselves to free the entire Mysuru division from Malaria. The Union Government has formulated many programmes to make India Malaria free by 2025 and the cooperation of the public and Department officials are important to achieve this landmark. Already, 9 nations are declared as Malaria free in the world and Sri Lanka is one among them. If, water is collected in front of a house, neighbours will file a case in Sri Lanka and they will be punished with imprisonment for 2 years where awareness programmes will be held by the Health Department,” he concluded.

Mysuru District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. K.H. Prasad, who too spoke on the occasion, said that more Malaria cases were reported from the borders of Mandya districts like Bluff, Shimsha; K.R. Nagar-K.R. Pet border Bherya 15 years ago. Since the last 5 years, the cases have come to zero due to the various steps taken by the Department, he opined and appreciated the efforts of the Department employees in this connection.

District Surveillance Officer Dr. Shivaprakash,  Reproductive and Child Health Officer (RCHO) Dr. Jayant, TB Control Officer Dr. Siraj Ahmed, Cholera Control Officer Dr. Umesh, Taluk Health Officer Dr. Rajeshwari and others were present on the occasion.