30 May,2025 10:36 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
The event was organised by the Public Health Department of Maharashtra
In a major push towards eliminating malaria and other vector-borne diseases, a joint meeting of four bordering states including Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh was held in Nagpur district, officials said.
The event was organised by the Public Health Department of Maharashtra.
It brought together key health officials and experts to strengthen cross-border coordination and disease control, officials said.
A meeting was held under the guidance of Secretary Dr. Nipun Vinayak and aimed to speed up efforts to make India malaria-free by 2030, with a local target of 2027.
Officials in attendance included Dr. B. S. Kamlapurkar (Joint Director, Health Services - Vector Borne Diseases), Dr. Shashikant Shambharkar (Deputy Director, Nagpur), and entomologist Dr. Mahendra Jagtap. Experts from other states such as Dr. Chinmay Das (Chhattisgarh), Dr. Bhavana Dubey (Madhya Pradesh), and Dr. Vijaykumar (Telangana) also participated, along with NGO representatives and partners like PATH.
The meeting was co-chaired by national officials including Dr. Tanu Jain, Director, National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC) and Dr. P. J. Bhuiyan (Additional Director and Head of Malaria).
The event was aimed to enhance cross-border cooperation-collaboration before the onset of high transmission season, an official statement said.
It will improve malaria surveillance through effective cross-notification between high endemic districts-blocks of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana as a contiguous geography that will enable these states to collectively stop malaria transmission in the region, through combined programmatic interventions, for better inter-state coordination and convergence, it said.
The following topics were discussed in the meeting, and the SOP was established accordingly.
- Implementing guiding instructions (SOP) for the migration of people to other states within the state.
- Utilising testing, treatment, and tracking for migration.
- Training and capacity building for employees as needed.
- Raising awareness among people in border areas of the state on a large scale.
- Primarily managing severe vector-borne diseases like malaria.
- Coordinating the work of officials in border areas of the state.
- Efforts at the local level to stop the spread of malaria in the respective states and to bring malaria to zero.
- Defining the roles and responsibilities of cross-border officials.
