Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan chairing an event to review the status of Kala-Azar in New Delhi today
“One final push required to eliminate Kala-Azar from India”
New Delhi: Bihar, which has traditionally had a large burden of Kala-Azar, has achieved elimination target in almost all except 4 out of 458 blocks in the state. These four blocks are located in districts of Siwan and Saran. Jharkhand too has made significant progress both in reduction of Kala-Azar and Post-Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL) cases as well, as in number of blocks reporting more than 1 case per 10,000 population. As of November 30, 2020, only 12 blocks in Jharkhand besides Bihar’s 4 blocks had reported more than 1 case per 10,000 population.
As of now, there are 54 districts in four states namely Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal that are currently affected by Kala-Azar with sporadic cases in other states like Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand.
On a more positive note, the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have achieved their elimination target and needs to be more vigilant and diligent to consolidate and sustain their gains. Both states will earn the Elimination Certificate at the end of three years.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare who today chaired an event to review the status of the disease Kala-Azar in the four states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, appealed to all the District Magistrates and their officers at the district and block level that are still reporting more than 1 case per 10,000 population to take some time out of their schedule for a regular review of Kala-Azar and to help the district teams in overcoming the issues coming in the way of elimination target.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan explored possible solutions in this regard like sensitisation of the population, proper training of human resource, quick completion of Prime Minister’s dream of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022, strengthening adverse drug reaction reporting system, both for Kala-Azar and PKDL with special focus on PKDL cases with eye complications, institutional management of Kala-Azar/HIV cases at the district level.
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“A risk based stratified approach needs to be formulated with clear activities and responsibilities that come with measurable monitoring indicators.Kala Azar disproportionately impacts the people at lower socio-economic strata of society whose houses are not sprayed often. In addition, they are unable to apply for pucca houses since they don’t own land,” Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.
In this respect, the Minister underlined the importance of the following activities to target the elimination of the disease:
- Development of a plan for the “unreached poorest” or underprivileged sections in endemic areas.
- Leveraging of Kala-azar elimination programme within POSHAN Abhiyaan for maximum benefit at community level.
- Exploration of the opportunity of providing improved housing under the flagship program of the Prime Minister Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G). (The Minister added that Jharkhand has made good progress on this front).
- Exploration of the opportunity of providing improved housing under State Schemes, as has been done by Jharkhand under Birsa Munda Awas Yojana and Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana.
- Involvement of Rural Health Practitioners (RHPs) who are often used as the first point-of-care in referral, surveillance, and IEC.
- Co-ordination with the rural development department and engage with Panchayati Raj functionaries for awareness, community engagement, environment management and social empowerment.
- Focusing on IEC messages on prolonged fever, associated symptoms and free access to diagnosis and treatment, proper use of ITN/LLINs, and compensations/incentives.
Pointing out that Kala Azar is the 2nd largest parasitic killer in the world after Malaria and results in a 95% fatality rate if the patients are not treated, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that additionally, up to 20% of the patients who are correctly treated and cured, develop a skin condition called Post-Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL) which surfaces within months to years after treatment. “These patients can contain large amounts of parasites in their skin lesions, making them an important source of transmission,” he said.
Mangal Pandey, Minister of Health, Bihar, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, West Bengal, Jai Pratap Singh, Minister of Medical and Health, Family Welfare, Mother and Child Welfare, Uttar Pradesh and Banna Gupta, Health, Medical Education & Family Welfare, Jharkhand were also present in the event.
– global bihari bureau
