The national event to mark the World Malaria Day was held at Kurunegala Malaria Control Unit premises under the patronage of Health Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala and a public awareness walk started from that premises and covered Kurunegala City on Thursday.
World Malaria Day is celebrated on April 25 every year and this year’s theme is ‘Accelerating the fight against Malaria for a fairer world’. Malaria is considered to be one of the most serious diseases affecting humans worldwide.
The World Health Organisation certified Sri Lanka as a Malaria-free country in 2016. In the year 2023, 62 cases of Malaria have been reported from Sri Lanka and the majority of those patients are those who have travelled to African countries.
The first Anti-Malaria Unit in the country was established in 1911 and it is special that the national ceremony was held in the Anti-Malaria Unit premises.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala said that Sri Lanka is a country that has achieved great achievements in the public health sector of community health services, and that Malaria was eradicated from the country eight years ago. Recalling that the first Malaria Unit was established in Kurunegala in the year 1911, the Secretary said that Sri Lanka eradicated Malaria in the year 2016 after 105 years since the establishment of the unit.
He said that if any country in the world has eliminated Malaria after 30 years, it would be Sri Lanka, adding that many countries had eliminated Malaria before that. Emphasizing that Elephantiasis (Barava) disease was eradicated from Sri Lanka in 2016 and Measles disease was also eradicated from Sri Lanka in 2019, the Secretary expressed his gratitude to all those who worked hard to eradicate these diseases. He said that although Malaria has been eradicated from this country, the threat still exists and the reason for this is that Malaria is still present in other countries around us.
The Secretary said that even if Malaria is eliminated from Sri Lanka, the anti-malaria campaign will continue as a national programme to prevent the re-entry of Malaria into Sri Lanka. He said that they should be referred to the investigation, and steps will be taken to educate them.
He said that until Malaria is eradicated from the world, it is very necessary to continue the vaccination programmes for this very strongly, and everyone has a national responsibility for that.
Ishara Mudugamuwa