Malaria has been so prevalent in the country that even Bollywood uses it in its songs, casually mentioning the mosquito-borne disease in the same breath as a common cold.
The good news is that India has made significant progress in reducing the incidence of the disease. The bad news is that we still have a long way to go to eliminate it from the country.
More than 90 percent of India’s is at the risk of a malaria infection, as compared to Bangladesh at 11 percent and Nepal at 48 percent. According to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, last year, there were 10,59,437 cases of malaria in India, while 242 people died due to the disease.
This year, 13 cases have been reported till the first week of April. Here are six big facts about the disease.