Impact of Malaria on Public Health and its Prevention-A Comparative Study of Selected Hospitals and Endemic Zones under KMC's Jurisdiction

Even a century after the discovery of malaria transmission through mosquitoes in India by Sir Ronald Ross in 1897, malaria still continues to be one of India's leading public health problems. When studies and researches questioned ‘what exactly malaria costs India’ recorded various socio-economic burden on humanity as well as hampered and lowered the physical and intellectual standards of the nation slowing down its prosperity economic progress in every way. In the South East Asian Region of WHO, out of about 1.4 billion people living in 11 countries, 1.2 billion are exposed to the risk of malaria and most of them are from India. Among the urban centers of the country Kolkata and its suburban areas are regularly getting affected by malaria since the post independence period and held its top position quite deliberately. Though the ‘Eradication Era’ started from 1950 and showed reducing number of cases till 1960 but there was a constant fluctuation in mortality and morbidity rate due to the burden of malaria till 2000. The spread of disease among the people living in slums and settlements in and around central part of Kolkata is a major concern of health authorities as well as KMC personals. People coming from rural Bengal are flocking together in hospitals situated in the central part of the city in huge number. An in-depth analysis of the infrastructure of a government and a private hospital and prevailing condition of patients admitted there has been carried out to identity the factors responsible for breakout of the disease and its proper treatment. A comparative study of the hospitals will reveal some shocking facts which will compel the common people to ponder over their future well-being. As the Eight Millennium Development Goals suggested by UK among which there are health related goads; calling for improvements in health by 2015. Apart from reaching goals there is a need for substantial improvement of all aspects of public health which can be done through halting to the spread of malaria transmission so for the improvement of the conditions of people residing in Kolkata, the cultural capital of India. Government should also pay proactive role for educating the people regarding prevention, control and complete eradication of malaria form urban environment of Kolkata.