By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 19, 2016: Odisha government on Saturday signed a MoU with Trusts to work towards implementing malaria control and prevention activities along with research and technological innovations aimed at improving the lives of people in malaria endemic southern districts of Odisha.

Speaking on the occasion health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak informed that coastal Odisha having very low malaria burden [less than one case per 1000 population per year] would be zero Malara zone within next few years.

“The state government is fully committed to keep the disease under control and move towards the elimination and keep pace with Country’s mission. Besides malaria , we are concerned for maternal , infant and child mortality, high prevalence of anemia and malnutrition. Human resource crunch will be there in the State and in the Country and geographical difficulties cannot be overcome overnight. But when there is so much advance technology and TATA trusts being the hub of this, we should think out of box and resolve the issues in innovative manner in all the inaccessible corridors. If we can do, other States can learn from our experience”, Nayak told.

Principal Secretary health and family welfare Arati Ahuja explained about various steps taken to control malaria in Odisha. With a common focus on the elimination of malaria by 2030 and improving the overall quality of life of communities, the partnership with Tata Trust plans on strengthening its communication strategy and bringing in innovative technologies to track and monitor the disease-prone districts.

Tata Trusts, through Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM), aims to reach out to 25000 households along with the Program Management Unit (PMU), which will ensur the effective and timely implementation of the Malarial Control Programme.

The partnership will help in designing and implementing malaria elimination through early detection, prompt treatment, prevention, vector control, research, technologies and malarial sciences. In addition to this, the alliance will work towards improving the quality of malaria related management information systems, officials said.

The Tata Trusts – Government of Odisha collaboration plans to focus on 557 villages in 5 selected blocks including Bissamcuttack and Muniguda blocks of Rayagada district, Lanjigarh, Thuamulrampur blocks of Kalahandi district and Kotgarh block of Kandhamal district in southern Odisha. This will also include the inaccessible villages from the list of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, Odisha.

Speaking about the initiative, Mr. Burzis Taraporevala, Chief Accountant and Secretary, Tata Trusts, said, “It is rather unfortunate that in southern Odisha, a large number of people are afflicted by this disease and are losing their lives due to a lack of access to proper health care. We are honoured to be given the opportunity to partner with the Government of Odisha towards fighting the rampant spread of malaria and eventually eliminating it from this state. Liaising with the government, the people and leveraging technology to create a better tomorrow, we hope, that one day, we will be a malaria-free nation.”