Orissa Reaches Treated Bed Nets to Vulnerable Populations

Conclusion and Next Steps
Malaria is the fifth cause of death from infectious
diseases worldwide and among the top ten reported
causes of death in all age groups in India. The disease
is deeply affected by social and economic conditions
and is referred to as both a disease of the poor and a
cause of poverty. The marginalised, poorer sections -
mostly rural and tribal with low socio-economic status,
limited access to quality health care, communication,
other basic facilities, lack of awareness on protection
measures, are often the worst sufferers. Orissa has
a high burden of malaria and the decision of the
Government to distribute LLIN in a large scale among
the vulnerable population is a strategic shift in the
control programme.
The LLIN distribution plan aimed to cover 69 blocks in
21 districts under 17 clusters. About 11.99 lakh LLINs
were received by the GoO from GoI in the first phase.
It was a well planned strategy that drew from current
“The next steps are to have a differential
or a robust equity strategy to bring down
incidence of malaria in communities
that live in forests, forest fringe and
scheduled areas of the State. We also need
to take forward BCC campaign in a more
sustainable manner and also make malaria
a very important component of school
health programme”
Dr. Pramod Meherda, IAS, Mission
Director, NRHM, GoO
initiatives like the Gaon Kalyan Samiti (GKS). Since not
all districts could be covered and within that not all
population could be protected, an attempt was made to
create a priority list. Using the cluster approach, villages
of high vulnerability were chosen as beneficiaries. While
some districts like Kandhamal achieved nearly 100%
Conclusions and Next Steps 37
SECTION VI