Staff Reporter :Health experts on Saturday called for raising social awareness about malaria. They gave importance to the combined action of public and private sectors for eliminating the disease from the country by 2020.They made the remarks addressing a press conference in the MIS auditorium of Health Directorate at Mohakhali in the capital on the day. Jointly organized by National Malaria Control Programme and BRAC, the press conference was arranged ahead of the World Malaria Day, which will be observed on April 25. Involvement of multi-sector is important for eliminating the disease, the health experts said, calling upon all concerned to work together to achieve the target of reducing outbreak of malaria by 80 percent in malaria-prone 13 districts and to bring the death rate, caused by malaria, to zero by the year 2018.Professor Dr. Abul Kalam Azad, Additional Director General of Health Directorate, attended as the chief guest.Chaired by Dr. Abul Khair Mohammad Shamsuzzaman, Line Director of Communicable Diseases Control, the programme was addressed by Professor Dr. MA Faiz, former director general of Health Directorate, Dr. Mohammad Akramul Islam, Director of TB, Malaria and Wash programme of BRAC, Toufik Maruf, President of Health Reporters’ Forum and Dr. Abu Naim, evaluator of Malaria Control Programme.Dr. Mohammad Nazrul Islam, monitoring and evaluation expert of the Malaria Control Programme, presented the key-note paper. The programme was told that 54 people had died of the disease in 2014 and nine in 2015 in the country. About 97,199 people were affected by it during the last two years. Currently, over 1.32 crore people are at risk of the disease. Thirteen of the country’s 64 districts are malaria- prone areas. Of them, three districts—Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban-are highly prone areas. About the preventive measures, the speakers advised people to use insecticidal net since evening and cloths covering hands and legs while going out of home at night. Other measures included removing unnecessary bushes in and around house and filling up unnecessary water bodies, which are breeding places of mosquito, and quick diagnosis of the disease and its treatment.
