Tuesday, 23rd September 2014
Director General Health Services, Dr. Palitha Mahipala said this declaration was possible as not even a single case of Malaria was reported.
In another achievement of Sri Lanka’s free health service, it was slated to be declared the first tropical country in the world that had eradicated Malaria, after October 2015, by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a senior official said.
Director General Health Services, Dr. Palitha Mahipala said this declaration was possible as not even a single case of Malaria was reported. Addressing a ceremony held to felicitate employees who had served more than 25 years at the Anti Malaria Campaign, Dr. Mahipala said it was a great feat in the country’s heath service that the WHO declared Sri Lanka, Malaria free, as the country had suffered severely from the Malaria outbreak in the third and fourth decades.
“Sri Lanka has not reported a Malaria death since 2007 as opposed to 264,000 patients who had died from this disease in the third and fourth decades. In addition there were millions of Malaria patients during this period. However, due to the successful anti Malaria drive and dedication of our doctors, nurses and the health staff Sri Lanka had been able to bring down the number of Malaria patients to 95 by 2013 and further reduced it to 35 by 2014,” Dr. Mahipala further said.
He added that the two new Malaria cases reported this year were among foreigners. There were no reported cases of Malaria since October 2012 from within the country. If Sri Lanka was lucky enough to keep this record intact up to October 2015, the WHO would declare Sri Lanka a Malaria free country.
Dr. Mahipala said Sri Lanka had also eradicated polio and German measles and successfully controlled rabies, leprosy and filaria.
From : Daily Mirror e-paper (pg. 04): http://dailymirrorepaper.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
