THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- September 8, 2016- Topic 2
Sri Lanka conquers malaria
Sri Lanka has become malaria-free. On September 5, the
World Health Organisation officially recognised this huge
public health achievement.
The WHO certifies a country so when the chain of local transmission is interrupted
for at least three consecutive years; the last reported case was in October
2012. With no local transmission reported, Sri Lanka’s priority since October
2012 has been to prevent its return from outside, particularly from malaria-ENDEMIC countries such as India. There were
95, 49 and 36 cases reported in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively, all CONTRACTED outside Sri Lanka. In a COMMENDABLE initiative, Sri Lanka adopted a
two-pronged strategy of targeting both vector and PARASITE,
undertaking active detection of cases and residual parasite carriers by
screening populations irrespective of whether malaria symptoms were present.
Early detection and treatment of ASYMPTOMATIC
parasite carriers, who serve as reservoirs of infection, played a crucial role
in interrupting the chain. While this was achieved by means of house visits and
by starting mobile clinics in high-transmission areas, real-time monitoring
through effective surveillance systems, community awareness and mobilisation
also played their role. The public sector and the private sector were oriented
to the common goal of eliminating malaria by enhancing case notification and
achieving 100 per cent detection and confirmation through tests. Sri Lanka
expanded the coverage of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets to protect
high-risk populations, and used multiple methods to reduce mosquito numbers.
Sri Lanka was close to eliminating malaria in 1963,
when it reported just 17 cases. But a PREMATURE
lowering of the guard and growing resistance to DDT led to rising incidence in
the 1980s. The precise reasons for the failure of the ERADICATION programme were not clear. Some of
the major challenges the country had to face before it interrupted local
transmission were the Plasmodium
falciparum parasite becoming RESISTANT to the chloroquine drug, behavioural
changes in the vector, asymptomatic carriers and vector reintroduction. But the
TIDE turned from 2000 when a steady
reduction in the number of cases was recorded. Sri Lanka joins the ranks of 34
countries that have been certified malaria-free since the 1960s. The Maldives
was certified so in 2015; Argentina and Kyrgyzstan may soon be. Eradication of
the disease in India remains a challenge, but it could learn some lessons from
Sri Lanka even if the scale and complexity of the task is significantly
different.
Example: areas where malaria is endemic
Contracted: decrease in size, number, or
range.
Example: glass contracts as it cools
Synonyms: shrink, get smaller, decrease, diminish, reduce
Commendable: deserving praise.
Example: commendable restraint
Synonyms: admirable, praiseworthy, creditable, laudable, estimable
Parasite: an organism that lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by
deriving nutrients at the host's expense.
Example: These genes are essentially immune system genes and defend the host
organism from parasites
Asymptomatic: (of a condition or a person)
producing or showing no symptoms.
Example: The majority of the patients are asymptomatic and the lesion is diagnosed
incidentally on autopsy
Premature: occurring or done before the
usual or proper time; too early.
Example: the sun can cause premature aging
Synonyms: untimely, (too) early, unseasonable, before time; rash, ill-considered
Eradication: the complete destruction of
something.
Example: the eradication of poverty
Resistant: offering resistance to
something or someone.
Example: some of the old churches are resistant to change
Synonyms: impervious to, unsusceptible to, immune, invulnerable
to
Tide: the alternate rising and
falling of the sea, usually twice in each lunar day at a particular place, due
to the attraction of the moon and sun.
Example:
the changing patterns of
the tides. 