Reports and Indices
World Malaria Report 2022
- The report was published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
- According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted attempts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 more deaths and 13 million more infections globally over the last two years.
- The report offers in-depth information on the latest trends in malaria control and elimination at global, regional and country levels.
- The report highlights progress towards global targets and describes opportunities and challenges for curbing and eliminating the disease.
Key highlights of the Report
- Malarial Deaths : High-burden malaria countries maintained a strong fight against the disease in 2021 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with cases and deaths stabilising.
- While deaths came down to 619,000 in 2021 from 625,000 in the first year of the pandemic, it remained higher than the pre-pandemic level of 568,000 deaths in 2019.
Trend of Malaria Cases
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- As for Malaria cases, the upward trend continued but at a slower rate — 247 million cases in 2021, compared to 245 million cases in 2020 and 232 million in 2019.
- Among the 11 high-burden countries, five — the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, India, Niger and the United Republic of Tanzania — recorded a decline in deaths.
About Tuberculosis (TB)
- TB is caused by bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is spread when people who are sick with TB expel bacteria into the air.
- It typically affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can affect other sites. Initiatives taken to fight TB
- National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination (2017 – 2025) a framework to guide the activities of all stakeholders whose work is relevant to TB elimination in India.
- Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP): It has been renamed as “National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP)” to accelerate momentum towards eliminating Tuberculosis in the country by 2025.
- Early accurate diagnosis being done using techniques like Ziehl-Neelsen acid-fast staining /Fluorescence Microscopy, Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT) / Line Probe Assay (LPA)/ TrueNAT.
- Online notification of TB patients through the NIKSHAY portal.
