Goa to add 64 rural health centres

The growing demands of an increasing population in the state of Goa has prompted the state cabinet to approve the setting up of over 64 additional sub-health centres in the rural areas of Goa under the National rural health mission. The centres are expected to function under the directorate of health services and cater to people from all over Goa.

The sub-health centres will have one nurse and one patient-attendant to provide basic relief to the patients .Doctors  will follow a predetermined schedule to visit the sub-health centres on a periodic basis.

Goa, presently has around 172 sub health centres under various primary health centres and community health centres. However as per the norms set by the government, one unit of multipurpose health worker (MPHW) comprising one male and one female worker must cater to a population of around 5000 people. Besides a host of other tasks, a MPHW must maintain the health profile of the community. However in many areas of Goa, there is a huge population in excess of 10,000 to 15,000 under one health centre. The additional 64 health centres are therefore being set up to meet this shortfall and to meet the national health norms.

The sub-health centres are expected to be spread all over the state from Pernem taluka in the north to Canacona taluka in the south of Goa

Goa records drop in vector-borne diseases

The first signs of the cases of vector-borne diseases seem to be pretty encouraging for the state of Goa as the month of June 2009 has shown a drop of over 50 percent in cases of malaria as compared to June 2008 with only 493 cases recorded this year compared to over 941 cases  in the same period last year. Also the cases of the dreaded strain of plasmodium falciparum variant of malaria has also shown a drop from 252 cases last year to only 108 this year for the above period.

Also the cases of other vector borne diseases has shown a likewise decline in this year with June 2009 recording 15 cases of dengue, 6 instances of Chikungunya and nil cases of Japanese encephalitis in the state of Goa. The Corlim health centre in North Goa has alone recorded over 6 cases of Dengue and 3 cases of Chikungunya.

The National Vector-borne diseases control programme (NVPDCP) has recorded that in the first half of the year from January 2009 to June 2009, the state registered 26 cases of dengue, 35 cases of chikungunya and no cases of Japanese encephalitis.

For June 2009 out of the total 493 positive cases of malaria, 433 cases were located to be those of construction labourers while only 60 cases were attributed to the local Goan population. The maximum cases were detected in health centres from Panjim(180), Candolim(92), Aldona (72), Corlime (48) and Margao(34).

Tourists arriving in Goa are often precarious about the prevailing situation with cases of malaria haunting them and often take anti-malarials such as MALARONE to ward off the instance of being afflicted with malaria.Malarone is a combination drug (Atovaquone and Proguanil), which was licensed in the UK back in 1997 for use as a treatment for Malaria. However for people affected with kidney and liver problems, MALARONE is not advised. In fact it is always best to take the advice of your doctor before taking MALARONE. To purchase MALARONE online CLICK HERE

Goa renews fight against malaria and chikungunya

Come the monsoons and Goa gears up to renew its fight against malaria and other monsoon related ailments such as Chikungunya, Dengue, Gastroenteritis, Jaundice, Conjunctivitis and Leptospirosis which are all known to flare up with the onset of monsoons in Goa. The state's capital Panjim, witnessed over 55 victims of malaria last week with 44 of them infected with the Vivax strain while 10 had the falciparum strain. In June alone, Goa has already had over 491 cases of malaria out of which 109 victims had the deadly falciparum infection.

Areas infested with construction activity in the monsoons are known to be the hotbeds of the disease spread and in the monsoons its spread is faster owing to its breeding in collected water which is mostly prone in construction areas which is full of labour employees who themselves hail from poorly sanitised residences. With the completion of the construction activity cases of malaria are known to decline and in many cases completely disappear.

Health authorities in Goa therefore blame the construction sites to be the areas responsible for the spread of malaria due to the migrant labour spreading the disease among the locals.The detected cases of malaria have nearly doubled from 5000 in 2006 to 9822 in 2008.

According tot he health ministry in Goa over 20,000 WHO approved readymade mosquito nets are expected to be purchased and distributed to migrant labourers at various construction sites in areas such as Candolim and Caranzalem .

Tourists arriving in Goa are normally wary of the malaria infection and therefore take preventive measures toward off the disease by taking medication such as MALARONE which is an anti-malaria preventive treatment. To buy MALARONE online click here.

Malaria reduces in Candolim and Calangute at Goa

A hotbed of malarial infections due to migrant labour at construction sites and hotels around the area, the Candolim-Calangute coastal belt has begun to show a steady reduction in malaria cases in recent years due to the pro-active measures taken by the health authorities in the area. The health authorities are known to have acted with a double strategy to deal with the menace and the results are known to be quite good.

In a two-pronged approach they tackled the parasite which is the actual malaria germ and also the vector which is the mosquito which breeds in fresh water. In both these areas, the health authorities of Goa demonstrated a tight surveillance of the construction sites and the migrant labourers along the coastal belt.

The result of the approach has been positive with the figures for the last three years at the Candolim Health centre showing a marked improvement in the situation.

In the year 2007, the health centre which looks after eight villages around the Candolim and Calangute area , had recorded 5,198 cases of malaria out of which 1,348 were of the plasmodium falciparum type. Falciparum is a dangerous malarial infection which can cause cerebral malaria and even death. The above figures had served to recognise the whole belt as a high risk area and therefore an aggressive counter strategy was evolved where the health authorities began demanding 100% health cards from the migrant labourers.

Builders were also sought to be brought in line with the Candolim PHC demanding on them to carry out anti-larval measures under the supervision of the health staff and those refusing to do so were penalised ad around Rs 70,000 was recovered from them. The PHC is known to have made over 4000 health cards and renewed nearly 700 health cards in the year 2007

Such a sustained campaign gradually saw the malarial cases in Candolim PHC declining to 2,921 in 2008 out of which only 778 were of the falciparum type. The fines had surged to Rs 1,14,000. The PHC also made over 5550 new health cards and renewed over 1300 cards.

This year in 2009, upto the month of May, the figures have continued to be encouraging and the malaria figures for the candolim calangute belt have been only around 380 with merely  100 falciparum cases. Fines totaling over Rs 15,000 have also been collected.

For parasite control, the PHC has organised many migrant screening camps to zero in on the daily wage labourers. Private practitioners in the area were also given copies of the national drug policy 2008 on malaria treatment to enhance rationality in treatment.

To tackle vector control, the PHC conducted house-to-house campaigns in malaria sensitive areas such as Khobra vaddo in Calangute, Ximvaddo in Arpora, Araddi in Candolim, Sonarbhatt in Verem and the 20 point programme areas of Nerul and Sangolda.

The PHC also had a propaganda to popularise the  insecticide-treated bed nets at construction sites for migrant workers and also alerted and activated the village health and sanitation committees and introduced ultra low volume fogging machines in all sensitive areas.

More staff on construction sites, improved mobility in the field for checks and improved laboratory services by putting one additional laboratory technician were the other measures adopted by the PHC.All these measures have proven to give good results and the incidence of malarial infection has reduced considerably.

Tourists all over the world are wary about malaria when they travel to Goa and are known to be taking preventive measures such as intake of "malarone" tablets to ward off the infection should they be bitten by infected mosquitoes. Malarone is used to prevent or treat the type of malaria infection known as Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Plasmodium falciparum belongs to one particular family of malaria parasites. It affects the blood and liver. Malarone works by killing this parasite.

Malarone is a combination drug (Atovaquone and Proguanil), which was licensed in the UK back in 1997 for use as a treatment for Malaria. Malarone is considered to be non addictive. However it is better to consult your doctor before taking Malarone.To buy Malarone online, Click here.

Project Frog, gaining momentum in Goa

The Goan pitch to save frogs from the taste-buds of poachers in Goa seems to be gaining momentum by the day with the forest department endeavouring to spread the message of the ills caused due to frog reduction in Goa

Experts are out explaining about the numerous bio-indicators which prove that frogs which are a major part of Goan bio-diversity are facing an imminent threat to their very existence. The alarm is caused due to the dramatic drop in the frog population in the state owing to the lusty eyes of frog poachers who are being blamed for the current fall in their numbers.

Although there are no numbers to support the claim of the declines, experts opine that there are enough bio-indicators to point towards the fact that there is a threat to this species in Goa.

The bio-indicators are increase in malaria cases in Goa, increase in snakes venturing into human inhabitation in search of food. Frogs are considered to play a major role in the control of insects such as mosquitoes which are known to spread malaria and other crop damaging insects.

Wild Goa, a network of wildlife lovers in Goa are therefore currently working with the forest department that has launched a 'save frogs from extinction" campaign. WildGoa explains that the catching of frogs before thy mate not only kills the frog but also kills an entire generation of unborn tadpoles. The irony is that frog-poachers normally hunt for the big frogs who are the ones most likely to spawn the most number of eggs.

The Goa civic and consumer action network (GOACAN) has also lent its might to the campaign to save frogs and said that they would reach out to the people through the gram panchayats to spread the awareness and so co-ordinate with the police and the forest department to enforce the law.

The forest department has also resorted to spreading the message through the medium of spirituality as a means of stopping people from killing frogs. In this medium, the forest department has published colourful leaflets which sate" Frogs are believed to be incarnation of Goddess laxmi and are known to bring prosperity and rains. besides Monsoons is mating, breeding, multiplying, feeding, recruitment season for many species of frogs. It is during this time they become the victim of their biggest predator - man.

The awareness programme also states that consumption of frogs over a period of time could trigger paralytic strokes, cancers, kidney failures and other deformities. The educative information highlights the positive role played by frogs in preventing vector borne diseases and their killing is considered to be an ecological crime against the food chain

Malaria prevention in Goa

The government of Goa has painfully discovered that awareness on prevention of malaria was lacking among over 60% of participants according to a study conducted by the Goa Medical college for the state government to assess the effectiveness of malaria prevention campaigns during the forthcoming monsoons in the state of Goa.

A study made under the topic " Evaluation of Behaviour Change Communication under Anti-malaria month in Goa 2008" which was conducted by the dept of preventive and social medicine, GMC, states that a majority of over 60% of the participants were unaware of any measures taken by government to prevent mosquito breeding. Over 40 percent recalled insecticide spraying activities undertaken by government bodies and near 57% mentioned fogging activity.

Goa has been found to be prone to malaria and the incidence of malaria is found to be high in the monsoon season and the government pf Goa therefore observes the months of June, July and August as anti-malaria months. Behaviour change communication(BCC) is the strategy adopted by national Vector Borne diseases control programme to achieve this purpose.

The major findings of the above study are that the level of knowledge about malaria, its symptoms, mode of transmission, breeding sites etc was high in the studied population. It was also found that the practices adopted by the study population for prevention and control of malaria were inadequate.

The study recommends that considerable emphasis should be laid on intensive insecticidal spraying activities, wide use of larvivous fish and insecticide treated bednets, maximum utilisation of mass media and interpersonal communication skills.

The study concluded that malaria is a manmade disaster and often linked to construction activities and its control needs co-ordinated efforts from many other government departments such as town and country planning, irrigation, railways, urban development, fisheries, professional organisations etc, this inter sectoral co-ordination has an all round immense impact on the success of anti-malaria campaign through BBC.

The study revealed that although it has been known for a century that mosquitoes transmit malaria there is still a wrong notion among local communities that malaria can also spread through modes other than mosquito bites.

Most of the study participants identified fever as a major symptom of malaria. Second most common symptom identified was cold chills followed by rigors, headache and vomiting. There were also nearly 4% participants who did not know the symptoms of malaria. However over 90 percent of the participants did not know about Insecticide Residual Spray ( IRS)

Goa state project towards "malaria elimination"

Malaria has been plaguing Goa for too long a time and the government  of Goa has been trying to fight this menace through its various health centres inside Goa and also by making people aware of the dangers of the dreaded disease and educating the masses on the steps to be taken to prevent it.

Malaria which is spread essentially through mosquitoes in Goa is often rampant in the rainy season but also thrives in other seasons with infected mosquitoes posing a serious threat throughout the year.

The prime source of the spread of malaria has been attributed to stagnant water which helps in the breeding of the mosquitoes and "construction sites" have been pointed out to be the prime communicators of the disease. Also migrant labour working at such sites are often found to be the major reason to import and spread the disease from outstation areas.

However in a bid to eliminate malaria, the state unit of the national vector borne diseases control programme will soon implement the 'Malaria Elimination" project to control the disease in the state of Goa. Assisting the state in the project will be the National Malaria Control Programme.

Over the years the state of Goa has witnesses a steady increase in the spread of malaria and this is mainly attributed to teh migrant construction labour pouring into the state from other states of India such as Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka etc and these carriers of malaria are expected to be covered under the "malaria elimination" programme to try and prevent the spread of malaria in the state of Goa.

Among the many measures to be enforced under this project, is the distribution of mosquito nets treated with chemicals to be given to all these migrant workers in Goa and 12 centres have been set up in Goa to implement this focussed project. These centres are also expected to study the preventive measures necessary to stem the growth of mosquitoes in Goa.

While the project is expected to bear expected results in around 3 years time, local doctors and health officers besides various NGOs , the World Health Organisation and the UNICEF will be participating in the project.