{"id":38440,"date":"2023-12-03T06:23:54","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T00:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=38440"},"modified":"2025-04-23T11:03:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T05:33:46","slug":"malaria-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/malaria-2\/","title":{"rendered":"In 2022, 66% of Malaria cases in Southeast Asia were from India"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in the News?<\/li>\n<li>About Malaria<\/li>\n<li>How Malaria is Spread?<\/li>\n<li>About World Malaria Report 2023<\/li>\n<li>What does the Report say About India?<\/li>\n<li>Steps Taken by Government of India to Control Malaria<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in the News?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The World Health Organisation (WHO) published a report titled \u2018World Malaria Report 2023\u2019.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About Malaria<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Malaria is a disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite.<\/li>\n<li>The parasite can be spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes.\n<ul>\n<li>The plasmodium parasite is spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes, which are known as &#8220;night-biting&#8221; mosquitoes because they most commonly bite between dusk and dawn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>There are many different types of plasmodium parasite, but only 5 types cause malaria in humans.\n<ul>\n<li><u>Plasmodium falciparum<\/u> \u2013 mainly found in Africa, it&#8217;s the most common type of malaria parasite and is responsible for most malaria deaths worldwide.<\/li>\n<li><u>Plasmodium vivax<\/u> \u2013 mainly found in Asia and South America, this parasite causes milder symptoms than Plasmodium falciparum, but it can stay in the liver for up to 3 years, which can result in relapses.<\/li>\n<li><u>Plasmodium ovale<\/u> \u2013 fairly uncommon and usually found in West Africa, it can remain in your liver for several years without producing symptoms.<\/li>\n<li><u>Plasmodium malariae<\/u> \u2013 this is quite rare and usually only found in Africa.<\/li>\n<li><u>Plasmodium knowlesi<\/u> \u2013 this is very rare and found in parts of southeast Asia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How Malaria is Spread?<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/editor_images\/2023\/12\/3\/13\/50\/57\/656c3a6986f9a10597533a25_OI.PNG\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The plasmodium parasite is spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes, which are known as &#8220;night-biting&#8221; mosquitoes because they most commonly bite between dusk and dawn.<\/li>\n<li><u>Once a person is bitten, the parasite enters the bloodstream and travels to the liver<\/u>.\n<ul>\n<li>The infection develops in the liver before re-entering the bloodstream and invading the red blood cells (RBCs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The parasites grow and multiply in the RBCs. At regular intervals, the infected blood cells burst, releasing more parasites into the blood.<\/li>\n<li>If a mosquito bites a person already infected with malaria, it can also become infected and spread the parasite on to other people.\n<ul>\n<li><u>However, malaria does not spread directly from person to person<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About World Malaria Report 2023<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Each year, WHO\u2019s World malaria report provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of trends in malaria control and elimination across the globe.<\/li>\n<li>Trends in the global malaria burden:\n<ul>\n<li>This year\u2019s report highlights that despite strides in expanding access to insecticide-treated nets and medicines to help prevent malaria in young children and pregnant women, more people were getting sick with malaria.<\/li>\n<li>Giving the global picture and trends in Malaria the report stated that in 2022, there were estimated 249 million cases globally, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of 233 million in 2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Threat of Climate Change:\n<ul>\n<li>This year\u2019s report includes, for the first time, a dedicated chapter focused on the intersection between climate change and malaria.<\/li>\n<li>Changes in temperature, humidity and rainfall can influence the behavior and survival of the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito.<\/li>\n<li>Extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and flooding, can also directly impact transmission and disease burden.<\/li>\n<li>Catastrophic flooding in Pakistan in 2022, for example, led to a five-fold increase in malaria cases in the country.<\/li>\n<li>Conflict and humanitarian crises, resource constraints and biological challenges such as drug and insecticide resistance also continue to hamper progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Positive Takeaway:\n<ul>\n<li>The report cites achievements such as the phased roll-out of the first WHO-recommended malaria vaccine, RTS, S\/AS01, in three African countries.<\/li>\n<li>In October 2023, WHO recommended a second safe and effective malaria vaccine, R21\/Matrix-M.<\/li>\n<li>The availability of two malaria vaccines is expected to increase supply and make broad-scale deployment across Africa possible.<\/li>\n<li>There has also been progress toward malaria elimination in many countries with a low burden of the disease. In 2022, 34 countries reported fewer than 1000 cases of malaria compared to just 13 countries in 2000.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What does the Report say About India?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>According to the World Malaria Report, India accounted for 66% of malaria cases in the World Health Organization\u2019s South-East Asia region in 2022.<\/li>\n<li>India and Indonesia accounted for about 94% of all malaria deaths in the region last year, the World Health Organization said.<\/li>\n<li>The report said that nearly 46% of all cases in the region were caused by Plasmodium vivax, a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Steps Taken by Government of India to Control Malaria<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Since 2000, India cut malaria cases by more than half and the number of malaria deaths by more than 66%.<\/li>\n<li>In 2016, India introduced its first National Framework for Malaria Elimination (2016-2030).\n<ul>\n<li>It has a vision of a malaria-free country by 2027 and elimination by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In 2019, the Government of India increased funding by more than 25% for the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme and increased support as a donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1) What are Communicable Diseases?<\/h3>\n<p>Communicable diseases are illnesses caused by viruses or bacteria that people spread to one another through contact with contaminated surfaces, bodily fluids, blood products, insect bites, or through the air.<\/p>\n<h3>Q2) Why is it difficult to develop an effective malaria vaccine?<\/h3>\n<p>Malaria parasites have a complex life cycle, and there is poor understanding of the complex immune response to malaria infection. Malaria parasites are also genetically complex, producing thousands of potential antigens.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/health\/in-2022-india-accounted-for-66-of-malaria-cases-in-who-south-east-asia-region-world-malaria-report\/article67597371.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>In 2022, India accounted for 66% of malaria cases in WHO South-East Asia Region: World Malaria Report<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/india\/health-topics\/malaria\/india-launches-the-national-framework-to-eliminate-malaria\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>| WHO<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) published a report titled \u2018World Malaria Report 2023\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38440","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}