Complete Malaria eradication by 2015

Sri Lanka aims to completely eradicate Malaria by 2015. The successful National Malaria Control Campaign will become a National Dengue Control Program in due course, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.

The Minister was addressing the National Malaria Control Campaign felicitation ceremony at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute recently.

He said, “During the past decades thousands of Malaria patients have been reported from the island. I remember, over 80,000 people were victimized due to Malaria epidemic during 1934 and 1935. In 2000, 200,000 Malaria patients were reported islandwide. We have to launch a successful eradication program for Malaria and to reduce Malaria patients in our country.”

The Minister paid his gratitude to all the people who have been working for the National Malaria Control campaign. “They have given their full contribution to eliminate Malaria from our country,” he said.

The Minister said National Malaria Control Program has a target to eradicate Malaria from our country within the next five years. The International Organization for Global Fund for Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria (GFATM) have donated more money to this program. “But, we are facing another problem. That is the dengue fever. Over 35,000 dengue patients were reported in 2009 and 360 people died due to this. The present dengue situation is similar to that of 2009. Over 16,000 dengue cases were reported and over 90 people have died in 2010. This is very serious problem,” he said. The Minister requested the people to actively participate in control and eradication of dengue.

Government alone cannot control or eradicate dengue. It must be a social responsibility, the Minister stressed. Deputy Health Minister Mahinda Amaraweera and Malaria Control Campaign National Coordinator Dr. Ravindra Abeysinghe are participated.