On World Mosquito Day, Malaria No More India Country
Director says India must increase access to quality
healthcare to meet malaria elimination aim

New Delhi, August 20, 2022: World Mosquito Day 2022, an annual observance to commemorate Sir
Ronald Ross’ discovery that female anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans. On World
Mosquito Day, Malaria No More, a leading non-governmental organization working for malaria
elimination in India, has underlined its commitment to support India’s goal of eliminating malaria by
2030.
Malaria is preventable and treatable, but it continues to have a devastating impact on the health and
livelihoods of people across the world. In 2020, there were an estimated 241 million new cases of
malaria and 627,000 malaria-related deaths in 85 countries. According to the World Malaria Report
2021, India accounted for 83% of cases in the WHO South-East Asia Region. In India, malaria threatens a
population of about 1.26 billion and is responsible for an economic burden of $1.9 billion.
Malaria No More has been working at the last mile, in Koraput and Malkangiri districts of Odisha, to
address malaria in these high endemic zones. To ensure access of malaria care at the last mile, Malaria
No More trained Doots and Saathis (their field workforce) mobilize tribal communities and actively
engage in each step of testing, treatment, and reporting. Through these efforts, Malaria No More has
been successful in ensuring over 40% reduction of transmission over the past year and has ensured
100% treatment completion rate and zero malaria deaths in its areas of operation.
Along with offering critical health services, the organization strives to build a malaria-resilient
community, and towards this has been undertaking consistent community engagement. Malaria No
More disseminates health education messages for malaria, ensures bed net usage, and organizes village
cleaning drives to equip the community with the requisite know-how to combat malaria. The
organization has ensured over 90% usage of LLINs through regular night surveillance.
Commenting on the forthcoming phase of malaria elimination, Mr. Pratik Kumar, India Country
Director, Malaria No More, emphasizes the integration of technology and says, “Malaria has been one
of India’s long-standing public health problems. While we have achieved commendable success in
fighting the disease, we continue to face several barriers to reach elimination. Accelerating introduction
and scaling of new tools & technologies is key in surveillance, treatment, and care. Using these new tools
and technologies to enhance access to care at the last mile will be crucial in achieving malaria
elimination. There is a need for a robust plan to accelerate ongoing efforts and achieve the ambitious
goal of our nation to eliminate malaria by 2030.”