Sun Pharma, others ink pact for malaria project in Mandla

New Delhi : Drug major Sun Pharma announced signing of tri-party agreement between Indian Council of Medical Research, Government of Madhya Pradesh and Foundation for Disease Elimination and Control of India (FDEC India) to launch the malaria-free India demonstration project in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh.

FDEC-India has been established by Sun Pharma as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative.

Commenting on the pact, Sun Pharma MD Dilip Shanghvi said: "The Public-Private-Partnership agreement signed today is an important step towards elimination of malaria from India by 2030."

As per the pact, ICMR's National Institute for Research in Tribal Health, MP Government and FDEC-India will accomplish the goals of malaria elimination from Mandla district and prevent re-introduction by use of vector control and case management as per national and/or WHO norms of malaria elimination, Sun Pharma said in a statement.

"Using field tested and proven tools of vector control, case management by rapid diagnosis and prompt treatment, this programme aims to eliminate malaria from Mandla district," Department of Health Research Secretary and ICMR DG Soumya Swaminathan said.

The lessons learned from this demonstration project will be useful for scaling up malaria elimination programme in the rest of the state and the country, she added.

"I hope with the intensified joint efforts of all the three partners, malaria will be eliminated from Mandla district and would be a presentable model for replication in the other districts of state and other parts of the country," Madhya Pradesh Commissioner (Health) Pallavi Jain Govil said.