The health ministry says malaria deaths have dropped from 1,005 in 2001 to less than 300 in 2015. "This new (strategic) plan represents a total paradigm shift," R.K. Vats, additional secretary in the health ministry, said. "But eliminating malaria is still not going to be an easy task, it is still challenging," she told The Telegraph. A health official said the activities envisaged under the strategic plan were expected to cost Rs 10,653 crore between 2017 and 2022. But a senior health official told The Telegraph today that surveillance had significantly improved over the past decade.

Source: The Telegraph July 12, 2017 21:33 UTC