TULSIPUR, DANG: As many as fifteen malaria patients have been detected in the past nine months in Dang, as confirmed by the District Public Health Office (DPHO).

According to Doctor Kamal Chand of DPHO, this number was 34 in the last fiscal year. Though the dwindling number of malaria patients since past year represents a positive sign, the district that lies in Province 5 is still vulnerable to the infectious disease, informed Chand.

He asserted that combined efforts from all authorities concerned, civil society and locals were essential to eliminate the problem and accomplish the dream of making the country free of malaria, a life-threatening disease, by 2025 AD.

According to the World Health Organisation's data, every year 50,000 people in the world are affected by malaria. There were an estimated 216 million cases of malaria in 91 countries in 2016, an increase of five million cases than in 2015, with malaria deaths reaching 445,000 in 2016.