The number of deaths caused by dengue has sharply dropped in the North Western Province due to the high quality health service offered to patients, Provincial Director of Health R M S K Ratnayake said.

Addressing a press briefing yesterday, he said health authorities cannot destroy all dengue breeding places and needs public support for it.

Ratnayake said there is a possibility of an increase in dengue patients with the prevailing weather conditions.

LUCKNOW: A small fry from the coastal belt of India could prove a potent weapon in the battle against the menace of Japanese encephalitis in eastern Uttar Pradesh. This small killer fish, Gambusia, is known for devouring mosquito larvae - 100 to 300 per day. So, the UP government has added it to its armoury for controlling mosquitoes, which are primary responsible for the spread of the dreaded disease that has claimed more than 5,000 lives in the past seven years.

A third of malaria drugs used around the world to stem the spread of the disease are counterfeit, data suggests.

Researchers who looked at 1,500 samples of seven malaria drugs from seven countries in South East Asia say poor-quality and fake tablets are causing drug resistance and treatment failure.

Data from 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa including over 2,500 drug samples showed similar results.

Experts say The Lancet Infectious Diseases research is a "wake-up call".

AHMEDABAD: Between January and April last year, there were close to 550 malaria cases in the city. This year during the same period there are more than 1,600 malaria cases - a number that is alarming considering the fact that these cases have surfaced way ahead before the onset of monsoons. The state health department and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation ( AMC) have now sought help from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Delhi and National Institute of Malaria Research in Nadiad to tackle the problem.

LUCKNOW: The UP government on Monday cleared projects worth Rs 602 crore to check the dreaded Japanese encephalitis which has claimed more than 5,000 lives in the past seven years. An inter-departmental committee headed by chief secretary Jawed Usmani finalized the projects for 20 affected districts of the state.

Tokyo:Over one in three anti-malarial drugs sold in southeast Asia are fake while a third of samples in sub-Saharan Africa failed chemical testing for containing too much or too little of the active ingredient, potentially encouraging drug resistance. Around 7% of the drugs tested in India was found to be of poor quality with many being fake.
A Lancet study to be announced on Tuesday says 3.3 billion people are at risk of malaria, which is endemic in 106 countries. Every year, between 655,000 and 1.2 million people die from Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Dengue has claimed 55 lives. Nearly 1,500 dengue cases had been reported from all parts of the country during the past five months. The public should be vigilant about dengue mosquito breeding sites common in certain areas, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, a majority of mosquito breeding spots in the Colombo district are located in discarded receptacles.

"The most affected area is the Kalutara district is Walalawita where thousands of acres of godapara trees are located. Dengue mosquitoes breed in the leaves once they fall on to the ground.