Report by Orissadiary correspondent; Bhubaneswar: Study reveals Orissa has earned the dubious distinction of topping the list of cerebral malaria affliction standing at 44 per cent against the all-India figure of 7,25,502 cases per annum.

The study reveals that Orissa not only soars the vulnerability scale but also posts itself in the pinnacle of fatality rate of plasmodium falcifarum that stands at 18 per cent followed by Maharashtra at 15 per cent, Chhattisgarh and North-Eastern States each at 11 per cent, West Bengal 9 per cent, Gujarat 5 per cent, Rajasthan 4 per cent and Karnataka 2 per cent.

Accordingly, the launching of the World Bank-sponsored pilot project on Zero Malaria in the malaria-prone tribals-dominated districts of Sundargarh and Keonjhar is on the anvil even though Rayagada district, as per the latest statistics, steals the march for being the most malaria-susceptible zone now, sources said. Rayagada is followed by Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Kalahandi, Sundargarh, Sambalpur and Nuapada. The pilot project will also be simultaneously launched in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district, sources further informed.

Meanwhile, a significant workshop on cerebral malaria was held recently in Geneva where the alarming case of Orissa was figured out. Besides India and Philippines, three other African nations had also participated in the workshop.