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.