MUMBAI: While the number of malaria cases in the city has risen by 62% this year, BMC hasn’t reported a single death yet – last year saw one fatality. Malaria deaths in the state dropped from 26 last year to 11 this year.
Dr Daksha Shah, BMC’s executive health officer, said Mumbai’s numbers reflect a global trend of malaria and dengue cases surging due to increased vector activity.”It’s certainly a combination of factors ranging from weather to climate conditions and local factors such as Mumbai’s ongoing upgrade in infrastructure. However, we don’t know how much of a correlation is there with pollution,” she said. G South, E, G North, K West remain the biggest contributors among wards.
The World Malaria Report 2023 published by WHO last week, for the first time, recognised climate change as a growing threat in the battle against malaria. Also, partly due to disruptions by Covid-19, there has been a global increase of 5 million malaria cases in 2022, totalling 249 million (compared to 2021), the report said. It emphasised that most malaria cases in the South-East Asian region were concentrated in India (66%), with about 94% deaths occurring in India and Indonesia. “Malaria is extremely sensitive to climate change as temperature, rainfall and humidity influence several dynamics of malaria transmission, including malaria vectorial capacity,” the report underlined.
A single day of unseasonal rainfall can set the vector control activities back by weeks, said an insecticide officer. “Malaria is also manmade in Mumbai. The wells, water storage tanks are tough to treat, while people contribute little to free their premises of breeding,” the official said. In 2023, the insecticide teams doubled down on construction sites.
However, Dr Mahendra Jagtap, state entomologist, said that deaths have halved compared to last year. He also highlighted a sharp decline in cases of falciparum, the more severe type of malaria in Gadchiroli. “We are also intensifying training for more doctors to handle critical malaria and dengue cases more effectively,” he added.
Dr Daksha Shah, BMC’s executive health officer, said Mumbai’s numbers reflect a global trend of malaria and dengue cases surging due to increased vector activity.”It’s certainly a combination of factors ranging from weather to climate conditions and local factors such as Mumbai’s ongoing upgrade in infrastructure. However, we don’t know how much of a correlation is there with pollution,” she said. G South, E, G North, K West remain the biggest contributors among wards.
The World Malaria Report 2023 published by WHO last week, for the first time, recognised climate change as a growing threat in the battle against malaria. Also, partly due to disruptions by Covid-19, there has been a global increase of 5 million malaria cases in 2022, totalling 249 million (compared to 2021), the report said. It emphasised that most malaria cases in the South-East Asian region were concentrated in India (66%), with about 94% deaths occurring in India and Indonesia. “Malaria is extremely sensitive to climate change as temperature, rainfall and humidity influence several dynamics of malaria transmission, including malaria vectorial capacity,” the report underlined.
A single day of unseasonal rainfall can set the vector control activities back by weeks, said an insecticide officer. “Malaria is also manmade in Mumbai. The wells, water storage tanks are tough to treat, while people contribute little to free their premises of breeding,” the official said. In 2023, the insecticide teams doubled down on construction sites.
However, Dr Mahendra Jagtap, state entomologist, said that deaths have halved compared to last year. He also highlighted a sharp decline in cases of falciparum, the more severe type of malaria in Gadchiroli. “We are also intensifying training for more doctors to handle critical malaria and dengue cases more effectively,” he added.