District Health Action Plan - STATE HEALTH SOCIETY-----BIHAR

PART – F
National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme
The NVBDCP was initiated in the year 2003-2004. It is an umbrella programme for
prevention and control of vector borne diseases including Malaria, Filaria, Kala-azar and
Dengue. Under the programme comprehensive and multi sectoral public health activities are
implemented. Districts teams should review incidence and prevalence data available for these
diseases in the district through surveillance activities and plan as per national strategy
adapted to address local needs. Vector borne diseases like Malaria, Kala-azar , Dengue and
Japanese encephalitis are outbreak prone diseases and therefore during formulation of the
district health plan, epidemic response mechanism should also be outlined.
The main objectives of NVBDCP are:
� To reduce mortality and morbidity due to Malaria
� To reduce percentage of PF cases.
� To control other vector borne diseases like Kala azar, Dengue, Filaria,
Chikungyniea etc.
Saran is a Kala azar & Malaria prone district of Bihar .
B.3.1 Malaria
Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes. It was once thought
that the disease came from fetid marshes, hence the name mal aria, (bad air). In 1880,
scientists discovered the real cause of malaria a one-cell parasite called plasmodium. Later
they discovered that the parasite is transmitted from person to person through the bite of a
female Anopheles mosquito, which requires blood to nurture her eggs.
Today approximately 40% of the world's population mostly those living in the world‟s
poorest countries are at risk of malaria. The disease was once more widespread but it was
successfully eliminated from many countries with temperate climates during the mid 20th
century. Today malaria is found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world
and causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths annually.
There are four types of human malaria Plasmodium vivax,
P. malariae, P. ovale and P. falciparum.
P. vivax and P. falciparum are the most
common and falciparum the most
deadly type of malaria infection.
The malaria parasite enters the human
host when an infected Anopheles
mosquito takes a blood meal. Inside
the human host, the parasite undergoes
a series of changes as part of its
complex life-cycle. Its various stages
allow plasmodia to evade the immune
101 | P a g e D i s t r i c t H e a l t h A c t i o n P l a n 2 0 1 2 - 1 3 D H S , S a r a n