SHILLONG: A representative of the US-based healthcare company, Neo Docto Inc met Health Minister AL Hek and officials of the department in the state to discuss their support in the fight against malaria.
Global president and CEO of Neo Docto Inc, Madhukar Sanneerappa said Health Minister AL Hek has assured support to ensure that Neo Docto’s state and national programmes penetrate into rural areas.
Stating that the company operates in 81 countries, Sanneerappa said, the company is providing assistance to governments across the world to fight dengue and Chikungunya. Cautioning that the state has a long way to go even as the number of malaria cases has gone down, he said, “The most number of people affected in Meghalaya are children, pregnant women and people with HIV as well as immigrants.” In fact, the North Eastern part of India is the most affected along with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he added. According to Sanneerappa, the Healthcare Company will provide all necessary support to make Meghalaya a malaria-free state. The company will help the state government with study and awareness materials, prevention items like mosquito nets, repellants and will help in funding of affordable medicines.
“We are already helping 12 states in India including Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam and now we are extending our help to Meghalaya,” he said. Informing that a lot of malaria incidents are reported in the Asia Pacific Region, especially in India, he said, “India has a high prevalence of malaria after the African countries.”
Giving his observation on the general healthcare system, he said the highest incidents of malaria are reported in rural areas when there is poor water flow, stagnant water, construction sites and agricultural fields that help mosquitoes to breed. He added that the main reason why malaria still persists is that people are not aware how the disease spread, how to control it and do not know what are the symptoms of malaria and will not go for early diagnosis which allows the infection to spread.
“People cannot afford mosquito nets and medicines like Artesunate are expensive. This is where we come in,” Sanneerappa added.
