The Directorate of National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme is the national nodal agency for prevention and control of major vector borne diseases of public health importance, namely, Malaria, Filaria, Kala-azar, Japanese Encephalitis (J.E.) and Dengue/ Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF).
Malaria
Malaria is an acute parasitic illness caused by Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium vivax. Mosquitoes, of which there are 9 major species, transmit malaria in India. The main clinical presentation is fever with chills, nausea and headache. The diagnosis is confirmed by microscopic examination of a blood smear. Majority of the patients recover from the acute episode within a few days following treatment. If treatment is not available in time, the condition of the patients with P.falciparum can deteriorate rapidly. At the time of independence, there were an estimated 75 million malaria cases and 0.8 million deaths annually. The Government of India launched the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) in 1953. DDT spraying resulted in a sharp decline in malaria in all areas under spray. In 1958, NMCP was converted to the National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP) with a view to eradicate malaria from the country. The strategy was highly successful and the cases were reduced to about one lakh and deaths due to malaria were eliminated by 1965-66. However, operational, financial and administrative constraints led to countrywide increase in the number of cases after 1967.
In 1977 the Modified Plan of Operation (MPO) was launched with the immediate objectives to prevent deaths and to reduce morbidity due to malaria. The programme was integrated with primary health care delivery system. The blanket approach of insecticidal spraying was changed to selective indoor residual spray by stratifying areas based on cases per 1,000 populations in a year, i.e., the Annual Parasite Incidence (API) of 2 and above. The cases were reduced subsequently from 6.47 million in 1976 to around 2.5 to 3 million cases annually till 1996. Since 1997, declining trend has been recorded. API declined to less than 2 for the first time in 2002 and since then it is reported to be less than 2.
The areas vulnerable to malaria are largely tribal, difficult, and remote, forested and forest fringe inaccessible areas with operational difficulties. The high transmission areas are the North Eastern States and largely tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Rajasthan.
The State governments are responsible for planning, implementation, supervision and monitoring of the programme. North Eastern States are being provided 100 per cent support for programme implementation including operational cost. Additional support for control of malaria in 100 districts predominantly inhabited by tribes in 8 states, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Rajasthan is being provided since September 1997 under the Enhanced Malaria Control Project (EMCP) with World Bank assistance.
Since the implementation of EMCP in 1997 the reported malaria cases in the country have declined to 1.82 million in 2004, as against over 2.66 million cases reported in year 1997- a decline of about 32 per cent in the reported cases. The number of Pf cases have also declined from 1.04 million in 1997 to 0.89 million in 2004, a decline of 15 per cent. NE States are also endemic for malaria, while NE States comprise only 4 per cent of the country's population but contribute 8 per cent of malaria, 7 per cent of Pf cases and 16 per cent of malaria deaths in the country.
The Malaria situation in the Country since 1996 to till date is as follows:
| Year | Cases (in million) Deaths | API* | Total | Pf | ||
| 1996 | 3.04 | 1.18 | 1010 | 3.48 | ||
| 1997 | 2.66 | 1.04 | 879 | 2.86 | ||
| 1998 | 2.22 | 1.03 | 664 | 2.44 | ||
| 1999 | 2.28 | 1.14 | 1048 | 2.41 | ||
| 2000 | 2.03 | 1.05 | 932 | 2.09 | ||
| 2001 | 2.09 | 1.01 | 1005 | 2.06 | ||
| 2002 | 1.84 | 0.89 | 973 | 1.80 | ||
| 2003 | 1.87 | 0.85 | 1006 | 1.82 | ||
| 2004 | 1.92 | 0.89 | 949 | 1.84 | ||
| 2005(Provisional) | 1.72 | 0.77 | 887 | 1.66 | ||
| 2006(up to June) | 0.23 | 0.12 | 288 | -- | ||
Confirmed cases per 1000 population
A Grant Agreement has been signed with Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) on 27 June 2005 for implementation of Intensified Malaria Control Project (IMCP) in NE States (except Sikkim), selected high risk areas Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal with the objectives to increase access to rapid diagnosis and treatment in remote and inaccessible areas through community participation, reduce malaria transmission risk reduction by use of insecticide treated bed nets (ITNs) and enhance awareness about malaria control and promote community, NGO and private sector participation.
