BERHAMPUR : People's movement in rural areas is the way to fight the bane of malaria.

The People's Rural Education Movement (PREM) had started malaria prevention and control programmes in 3,500 villages of Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nowrangpur, Kandhamal and Nuapada districts with a reach of 1,75,000 household with a population of 10,50,000. This programme was taken up after its pilot project was a success in Gajapati district. It was a real mass movement with the direct involvement of 69 NGOs and 157 malaria resource persons that started from July 2004 and continues till date.

The results have started to show up. Within a span of just over three years the malaria cases in the areas where the project was taken up has gone down from 317 per thousand persons to 127 per thousand. The mortality of children below five years due to malaria in these areas has also gone down to 39 per thousand from 66 per thousand. This success has made NGOs from Rajasthan and Uttarakhand emulate the project.

The president of the PREM, Jacob Thundyil attributes this success to the people's involvement in the project through consciousness build up. Apart from it the project also made accessibility and ample availability of the anti-malaria drug, chloroquin, through village level drug distribution centres.

Poor record

More than 23 per cent of the malaria cases in the country are from Orissa and 50 per cent of the malarial deaths occur in Orissa. As per a study, 60 per cent of the population in the State live in malaria-prone areas, particularly in tribal districts of south Orissa. Mr Thundyil said the statistics regarding malaria from Orissa could be at par with some African countries.

PREM organised a two-day workshop to discuss the status and prospects of the project at Gopalpur that concluded on Saturday.

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