Sun Pharma, ICMR join hands for malaria eradication

Malaria eradication project will be first launched at Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, covering 1,200 villages over three to five years

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and pharmaceutical major Sun Pharma on Monday entered into a public-private partnership (PPP) to eradicate malaria.

The partners will jointly set up management and technical committees to provide oversight for malaria surveillance and elimination. In its first phase, the project will be launched at Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, covering 1,200 villages over three to five years.

As part of this corporate social responsibility initiative, Sun Pharma will launch an independent not-for-profit foundation.

“The idea of this partnership is to use our understanding and knowledge for the success of this project. We will be working with global agencies to make the project a success,” said Dilip Shanghvi, managing director of Sun Pharma.

Shanghvi added that through the Malaria Free India initiative both the partners aim to achieve zero malaria incidence in Mandla district by FY21. According to data from the health ministry, there are 91 districts spread across 17 states which are highly prone to malaria. These will be taken up in future phases of the project.

“The first of its kind PPP agreement reiterates India’s commitment to eliminate malaria. ICMR and Sun Pharma will aim to reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by malaria in this demonstration project as well as prevention of re-introduction of malaria,” said J.P. Nadda, Union minister of health and family welfare.

Sixty percent of malaria cases in India are take place in the Northeastern region and five states— Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra—said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general of ICMR.