In cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), the fund had been carrying out MCP in 12 districts since March 2004. Later in 2008, the fund decided to add one more district, Banke, in its program. As the deadline for eliminating malaria nears, GF is set to cover 18 more new districts. [break]
"We are progressing well in reducing the burden of malaria in recent years. However, we still require a more extensive program to achieve our target," Arjun Kumar Bhattarai, the fund´s program officer, told myrepublica.com. "We have, therefore, decided to extend the coverage of MCP from next year."
The fund has decided to cover Doti, Surkhet, Dang, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Chitwan, Makawanpur, Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Sindhupalchowk, Udayapur, Saptari, Sunsari, Dhankuta, Panchthar and Siraha in MCP. "These are districts where the effect of malaria is moderate," Bhattarai told myrepublica.com.
So far, the fund has been carrying out MCP in only 13 districts, where the prevalence of malaria is high. These districts are Jhapa, Ilam, Morang, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Sindhuli, Kavre, Nawalparasi, Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke and Dadeldhura. "From next year, we will focus on even those districts where its prevalence is not too high," he said
Currently, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are around 4,000 cases of malaria in Nepal. Concluding that completely wiping out malaria is not possible, Nepal has reset a new target to control the disease. To eliminate malaria, Nepal needs to reduce its incidence to less than one person in every 1,000 in the total population.
Even after reducing malaria incidence to less than one person in every 1,000, Nepal requires to block imported cases for three consecutive years to declare its elimination. Currently, around 80 percent people are under the risk of contracting malaria.
"An extensive anti-malaria program will be more effective," Dr Bishwa Raj Khanal, director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), told myrepublica.com.
As part of MCP, the fund mainly distributes mosquito nets to protect people from malaria. Similarly, the fund provides Coartem, purportedly the most effective anti-malaria drug manufactured so far, to patients. The fund´s headquarters has recently agreed to release fund for the extension of MCP.
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