The prevalence of malaria has declined to a significant extent in recent years in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) due to the initiatives taken by the government as well as the development organisations to check the disease, reports UNB.
"I earlier suffered from malaria for three consecutive years…after taking medical services from a local satellite clinic, I got rid of the disease," said Chang Thui Mro, a member of Mro ethnic group, while talking to the correspondent of the news agency during a recent visit to a community satellite clinic at Muruga Bazar in Rowangchhari Upazila of Bandarban.
Another ethnic community member, Khushi Tripura, who trekked 10-kilometres to come to the Muruga Bazar satellite clinic, said malaria was common among the people of Tripura Para located on the side of Bandarban-Muruga Bazar road.
"We frequently suffered from malaria in the past. Now we are safe from the disease as we use mosquito net supplied by the government and follow the advice given by the community health workers," she said.
Since 2006, the three Hill District Councils, with support from the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility-the United Nations Development Programme (CHTDF-UNDP), have set up community satellite clinics to provide healthcare among the hilly people in Khagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban districts.
Statistic of the CHTDF-UNDP Health Programme shows that till April this year, only 157 malaria patients have taken treatment from community clinics in Bandarban district -- 54 in Rowangchhari Upazila, 5 in Ruma Upzaila, 40 in Thanchi, 16 in Lama, and 42 in Alikadam.
A total of 4,555 malaria patients received treatment from the satellite clinics in Bardarban district in 2007, but the figure declined to 1,964 in 2013.
About 17,782 malaria cases were detected in Bandarban district in 2008, but the figure came down to 9,320 in 2013. Eleven people reportedly died of malaria in the district in 2008; whereas only three died from the disease in 2013.
Dr Ching Swe Phru, Bandarban district medical officer of CHTDF-UNDP, said there were 54 malaria patients in Muruga Bazar last year. The epidemic of malaria depends on the intensity of rainfall-if rainfall increases, people suffer more from malaria.
The physician said the incidence of malaria has declined significantly in the region due to the effective programmes taken by the government and the NGOs to check malaria in the CHT.
