Baitadi at high risk of malaria

By Our Correspondent,Baitadi, Apr. 30: Two local bodies of Baitadi district are at high risk of malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease. Melauli Municipality-4 and Pancheshwor Rural Municipality-6 of Baitadi, a hilly district in Sudurpaschim province, are at the high risk of malaria, said District Health Office chief Yogesh Prasad Bhatta.

The District Health Office (DHO) is now carrying out preventive measures to control malaria. As a part of this, insecticide is being sprayed in the mosquito infected areas, recognising the breeding habitat of mosquitoes.

 Currently, DHO is spraying pesticides in 260 households of Melauli Municipality-4 and 150 households of Pancheshwar Rural Municipality-6 to prevent malaria infection, said Bhatta.

The health office chief said they have also been raising awareness programmes to control malaria in the district. The office has also distributed mosquito nets in malaria-prone areas.

According to him, Melauli and Pancheshwar have been at high risk of malaria for years now, while other places of the district are also at moderate risk. However, the number of malaria patients has been in decline thanks to continuous efforts of the government, he added.

In the fiscal year 2020/21, a total of four malaria cases were diagnosed in the district, while last year, only two cases were diagnosed, DHO spokesperson Bipin Lekhak said.

During the current fiscal year, two cases of malaria were diagnosed in the district, he added. Malaria is a life-threatening mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by Plasmodium parasites. Its symptoms include fever, fatigue, nausea and headache.

The prevalence of Malaria in the hilly regions now has alarmed the public health officials at a time when Nepal is working to bring down the malaria cases to zero with the ultimate goal of eradicating it by 2025.