At the time of independence, malaria was one of the most pressing public health challenges, with an estimated 7.5 crore cases annually and 800,000 deaths. Over the decades, relentless efforts have drastically reduced these numbers by over 97%, with cases declining to just 2 million and deaths plummeting to just 83 by 2023.“This historic achievement underscores India’s commitment to eliminating malaria and improving public health for its citizens,” the ministry said in a statement.The latest World Malaria Report 2024, released by the WHO, celebrates India’s significant progress, officials added.“India’s achievements include a significant reduction in malaria cases and malaria-related deaths between 2017 and 2023. This success is further highlighted by India’s exit from the WHO’s High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) group in 2024, signifying a turning point in its fight against malaria. These achievements reflect the nation’s robust public health interventions and its vision to achieve malaria-free status by 2030,” the ministry said.India’s epidemiological progress is particularly evident in the movement of states to lower disease burden categories.From 2015 to 2023, numerous states have transitioned from the higher-burden category to the significantly lower or zero-burden category.In 2015, 10 states and Union Territories were classified as high burden (Category 3), of these, in 2023 only two states (Mizoram and Tripura) remain in Category 3, whereas 4 states such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Meghalaya, have reduced the case-load and moved to Category 2.Also, the other four states – Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have significantly reduced the caseload and moved to Category 1 in 2023.In 2015 only 15 states were in Category 1, whereas in 2023, 24 states and UTs (progressed from high/medium-burden categories to Category 1, reporting an API of less than 1 case per 1000 population).As of 2023, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry are in Category 0 i.e. zero indigenous Malaria cases. These areas are now eligible for subnational verification of malaria elimination.
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