Lok Sabha Question No. 4616 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-23
Subject: Elimination of Kala Azar
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: K. MARAGATHAM

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4616 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD MARCH, 2018

## ELIMINATION OF KALA AZAR

## 4616. SHRIMATI K. MARAGATHAM:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Kala Azar is secondlargest parasitic killer in world after Malaria, if so, and reasons therefor;
- (b) whether the Government has missed December 2017 deadline an nou ced for elimination of Kala Azar (black fever), if so, the details thereof and the reasons behind the same;
- (c) the State/UT - wise details of Kala Azar cases reported during the last three years; and
- (d) whether the Government is planning to fix any deadline for its elimination, if so the thereof along with the strategy adopted?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) : As perGlobal Burden of Disease Study, 2013 published in LANCET - an International medical journal, Visceral Leishmaniasis (Kala Azar) was the second largest Neglected Tropical Diseases  causing  mortality.  As  per  this  report,  the  age - standardised  death  rate  was  0.9  per 1,00, 000 population in respect of Kala Azar. Death due to Visceral Leishmaniasis is mainly due to delayed reporting of cases to health facility.
- (b) : As against elimination target of less than 1 case of Kala Azar  per 10,000 popula block level in all the endemic blocks, till 2017, out of 633 endemic blocks, 559 (88%) blo have achieved the elimination target and 74 remaining blocks (49 are from Bihar and 25 Jharkhand) could not achieve elimination,  due to the following reasons.
1. Reporting of cases from newer foci.
2. Longer incubation peroid of about 2 years.
3. The endemic blocks located in difficult geographical terrain.
4. Indigenous health seeking behaviour in ethnic, poor and marginalised community.
- (c) : The  State/UT -wise  detail  of  cases  of Kala  Azar  reported  during  the  last  three  years  is annexed at Annexure .
- (d) : Continuous  efforts  are  underway  under  National  Vector  Borne  Disease  Control Programme (NVBDCP), a part of the   National Health Mission (NHM), a flagship programme of the Government, with an objective to eliminate the disease within a short span of time.

…………………….

## Annexure

| KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   | KALA AZAR SITUATION IN INDIA SINCE 2015   |
|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                                   | Affected States                           | 2015                                      | 2015                                      | 2016                                      | 2016                                      | 2017 ( P)                                 | 2017 ( P)                                 | 2018 (P) Till February                    | 2018 (P) Till February                    |
| Sl. No.                                   | Affected States                           | C                                         | D                                         | C                                         | D                                         | C                                         | D                                         | C                                         | D                                         |
| 1                                         | Bihar                                     | 6517                                      | 5                                         | 4773                                      | 0                                         | 4127                                      | 0                                         | 448                                       | 0                                         |
| 2                                         | Jharkhand                                 | 1262                                      | 0                                         | 1185                                      | 0                                         | 1358                                      | 0                                         | 98                                        | 0                                         |
| 3                                         | West Bengal                               | 576                                       | 0                                         | 179                                       | 0                                         | 156                                       | 0                                         | 10                                        | 0                                         |
| 4                                         | Uttar Pradesh                             | 131                                       | 0                                         | 107                                       | 0                                         | 115                                       | 0                                         | 3                                         | 0                                         |
| 5                                         | Uttarakhand                               | 3                                         | 0                                         | 2                                         | 0                                         | 2                                         | 0                                         |                                           |                                           |
| 6                                         | Assam                                     | 1                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         |
| 7                                         | Sikkim                                    | 5                                         | 0                                         | 1                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         |                                           |                                           |
| 8                                         | Kerala                                    | 4                                         | 0                                         | 2                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         |                                           |                                           |
| 9                                         | Punjab*                                   | 1                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         | 0                                         |                                           |
| Total                                     | Total                                     | 8500                                      | 5                                         | 6249                                      | 0                                         | 5758                                      | 0                                         | 559                                       | 0                                         |