Medical Officer and Research Assistant @SEARCH, Gadchiroli I M.B.B.S (AIIMS, Bhopal)| Budding Social Change Maker @NIRMAN | ICMR STS fellow 2022 | Evidence-based Community Health
🦟 I recently had the opportunity to present at the Intra-Organizational Knowledge Club Weekly Meet, on the strategies for malaria elimination, especially timely as the Malaria Mukt Gadchiroli Abhiyan begins to take shape in our district.✨ 🌍 From a Global point of view, malaria control has made historic gains, but since 2016–17, progress has slowed, challenged by insecticide resistance, urban malaria, climate variability, and conflict. These realities remind us that medicines and nets alone will not take us to elimination. The decisive factor will be the strength of our surveillance systems: their ability to detect, confirm, and sustain malaria freedom over time. 🔬 A recent Lancet Global Health commentary highlighted the Freedom From Infection (FFI) framework, a Bayesian approach that quantifies surveillance sensitivity and the probability that an area is truly malaria-free. What fascinated me was the evidence that adding active case detection and community case management to routine surveillance can almost double our certainty of elimination. This transforms surveillance into not just data collection, but a rigorous assurance of malaria freedom. 🏞 For Gadchiroli, this is more than theory. Transmission here is uneven, some villages with low burden, while others remain hotspots. By applying such frameworks, we can map this heterogeneity, tailor interventions village by village, and allocate resources with precision. Embedding these methods into digital health platforms, alongside capacity strengthening, will be key to making elimination a lasting reality. 💭 For me, the reflection is clear: malaria elimination is not only about reaching zero today, but about building resilient systems that prevent its return tomorrow. In Gadchiroli, science and community effort must move hand in hand if we are to secure a malaria-free future for the next generation. #Malaria #MalariaElimination #MalariaResearch #GlobalHealth #PublicHealth #SEARCHGadchiroli #MalariaMuktGadchiroli #CommunityHealth #Surveillance #ICMR #NIMRICMR #NCVBDC #NVBDCP #NRHM #MoHFW
The article “The Road to Malaria Elimination: Why a Robust Surveillance System is Imperative” was published in The Lancet Global Health (September 2025). This is a short explainer prepared by Dr. Shrirang Pathak, Medical Officer at SEARCH. Key Highlights: 1. The article underscores the need for strong surveillance to achieve and sustain malaria elimination. While major progress has been made in reducing cases and deaths, momentum has slowed since 2016 due to resistance, urban transmission, climate change, and conflict. 2. Elimination remains achievable—as demonstrated by countries with WHO certification—but requires fine-scale surveillance to detect uneven transmission and hotspots. Certification further demands proof of three years without local transmission, the ability to distinguish imported from local cases, and rapid response readiness. 3. The article introduces the Freedom from Infection (FFI) framework, a Bayesian tool that quantifies surveillance sensitivity and the probability of being malaria-free. Evidence shows that combining passive detection with active and community-based case finding significantly increases confidence in elimination. This data-driven approach provides stronger guidance for policy, tailored interventions, and long-term malaria control. Dr Shrirang Pathak #Malaria #PublicHealth #Research
To Educate is to Learn. Doctor | Gold Medalist | Clinical Research | PRIIIA Fellow 24' | IISc 24'I KVPY Fellow | First Generation Doctor |
3wCongratulations! This is amazing!