No malaria deaths recorded in past year

For the first time in 10 years, Mumbai did not record a single malaria death in 2019.

The decade began with 145 malaria deaths in 2010, and civic officials went all out to curb its spread.

Malaria is transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito that breeds in dirty stagnant water. While the city recorded over 4,100 positive cases of malaria in 2019, experts said not recording any deaths is a big development. Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi lauded employees of the public health department, insecticide department and the ground staff that worked towards malaria control.

According to civic officials, the malaria control programme implemented aggressively since 2010 included vector (infected female anopheles mosquito) control activities, encouraging immediate treatment, public awareness, and so on.

Since 2010, officials said more than 65,954 breeding spots have been destroyed and articles across the city where breeding can take place, had been removed. In areas where patients tested positive for malaria, civic officials carried out combing operations to track breeding spots and destroy them. The BMC also issued notices and fined people who were negligent and allowed breeding to take place on their premises.