Ministry of Health seeks permission for mosquito nets procurement from India

There is an urgent need for mosquito nets in the flood affected districts of Sindh and Balochistan.
Health experts also urge the authorities to immediately arrange for anti-malarial drugs.
The NMCP says more than 3,500 malaria cases are being reported daily from the flood-affected districts of Sindh alone.

The Health Ministry on Wednesday asked the government to allow the purchase of mosquito nets from India. Geo News Reported

According to the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) in 26 districts of the country Malaria is spreading. Hence, there is an urgent need for 7.1 million mosquito nets.

He said that nearly 80,000 cases of malaria have been reported during this month, of which 22 percent are related to the deadliest ‘Plasmodium falciparum’ type.

According to a report published in NewsMalaria testing kits, anti-malarial drugs and mosquito nets are urgently needed. Flood affected districts Government and private health experts say Sindh and Balochistan, where hundreds of cases of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest form of malaria, are being reported among men, women and children.

Health experts also urged authorities to urgently arrange anti-malarial drugs and mosquito nets to prevent loss of life in flood-affected areas of the country.

The NHS official asserted that they had requested the Global Fund to manage mosquito nets for the 26-most.Affected districts In Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, where cases of Plasmodium falciparum were high, the Global Fund responded by offering to buy nets from India if the government of Pakistan allowed its purchase from its arch-rival neighboring state. .

“We have written a letter to the Ministry of Commerce to allow the purchase of mosquito nets from India. If permission is granted, the Global Fund has assured us of arranging the required number of mosquito nets within a few days. An NHS official added.

Demanding lenience from the government’Treatment of malaria In the interim, infectious disease experts at the Aga Khan University warned of high death tolls in flood-affected districts of Sindh and other provinces, as neither malaria testing kits, malaria prevention No mosquito nets were available. Prevalence of malaria among flood victims across the country.

“Malaria is rapidly emerging as a major public health challenge in flood-affected areas. The problem is exacerbated by the unavailability of malaria testing kits and anti-malarial drugs. The National Leader The letters encourage confirmatory tests before malaria treatment whenever possible. Of course, if there are no testing kits available, how can one do a confirmatory test?” Asked Professor Asad Ali, a pediatric infectious disease specialist affiliated with AKUH.

Talking to The News, Dr. Asad Ali, who is also the Associate Dean of Research at AKU, said that thousands of malaria cases are being reported daily from flood-affected areas and added That unfortunately due to unavailability of testing kits, no confirmatory tests were being done and patients were not being treated.

“The magnitude of the problem can be gauged from the fact that on the first day, when we finally got malaria diagnostic kits at a health camp in Matari, rural Sindh, this week, five out of nine tested positive for malaria. Next Day, four of the six children tested positive for malaria. Three of them were positive for the Vivax type, and one was for the Falciparum type,” said Dr Ali.

“Thankfully, our health camp had something anti-malarial, and these children were treated immediately. I dread to imagine what is happening to the hundreds of other children with malaria who have not been tested. has been and is not being treated,” he observed.

He said there is an urgent need for massive supply of malaria diagnostic kits and anti-malarial drugs in the flood-affected areas.

“Guidelines also need to be temporarily relaxed, and physicians should be encouraged to treat patients with high suspicion empirically if diagnostic kits are not available. Our population is already vulnerable, So let’s do our best to reduce some of their preventable suffering,” he stressed.

On the other hand, the officials of the National Malaria Control Program say that more than 3500 cases of malaria are being reported daily from the flood-affected districts of Sindh and about 22.4% of them are Plasmodium falciparum, which is the most deadly type of malaria. Is.

“So far, more than 80,000 cases have been reported from flood-affected areas in Sindh as of September 20. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, as most people infected with the disease remain undiagnosed,” National Malaria said. ” The control program official said and added that they are trying their best to provide malaria testing kits, anti-malarial drugs and mosquito nets.

The official explained that out of the 80 flood-affected districts, malaria has wreaked havoc in 26 districts of Pakistan and added that around 7.1 million mosquito nets have been deployed on an emergency basis to protect people, especially women and children. Trying to arrange. Deadly mosquitoes.

“At the same time, local and international companies are being approached to urgently procure malaria testing kits and anti-malarial drugs before the situation gets out of control,” the official concluded.