On World Malaria Day,
let’s know more about the national programme and the government of Madhya Pradesh’s
efforts that reduced malaria led morbidity and mortality by 89%. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd has partnered with govt of Madhya Pradesh, Family Health India(FHI), since 2016 through their flagship programme EMBED.
This collaboration has been a successful model of private-public intervention
to curb the malaria burden, in line with India’s larger objective of becoming a
Malaria-Free nation by 2030.

The EMBED programme successfully tackled the challenge of navigating the
community’s beliefs on malaria and dengue, with the aim of improving knowledge
and behaviour towards preventable mosquito-borne diseases. Through
collaboration with local authorities and non-profit partners, the team visited
every household in villages to educate them on prevention measures, utilizing
platforms such as community meets and village nutrition days and communication
mediums like street play to spread awareness. The ultimate goal was to enable
community action towards preventing, treating, and controlling malaria and
dengue at the household and community level.

• The joint efforts of the MP state government and the EMBED program have intervened in 45% of the most affected areas of the state, moving it from a category 3 to a category 1 state, making it one of the top ten states with the lowest number of malaria cases.

• The current malaria infection rate in Madhya Pradesh is below one case per 1,000 population, making it one of the world’s fastest-declining malaria cases in the same period.

• In the last five years, there was an 89% drop in malaria cases. It also led to a positive impact on awareness and health-seeking behaviour among rural communities in Madhya Pradesh.

Dr Himanshu Jayswar, State Programme Officer VBDCP cum Deputy Director Health at Department
of Public Health and Family Welfare, Madhya Pradesh, said, “The
EMBED project, led by Family Health India and supported by Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, has been supporting the Government of Madhya Pradesh in
eliminating malaria from the state. The project has actively engaged with the
community and trained grassroots health workers. The project has also developed
a malaria treatment application utilized by ASHA and ANM workers in all
districts of Madhya Pradesh. It is hoped that the EMBED
project will continue to expand to other malaria-affected districts to
eliminate malaria and prevent and control dengue.”

EMBED’s success in the region has been driven by the commitment of the
communities involved, with 92% of households actively taking measures to keep
their homes and surroundings clean, ensuring there are no mosquito breeding
spaces. Furthermore, 91% of the community utilizes preventive measures
throughout the year or during peak mosquito seasons (monsoon and summer). The
team have recently developed an app for Malaria treatment, which is being used
by the Health departments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh,
especially by ASHA workers, ANMs and RHCPs.

Speaking about the
initiative, Gayatri Divecha, Head
CSR & Sustainability, Godrej Industries and Associate Companies, said, “EMBED’s
success lies in the impact it has managed to bring about in Madhya Pradesh, a
remarkable 89% decrease in Malaria morbidity. Through the EMBED programme, we
are extending our support to the government’s vision with a larger aim to
create a high-impact, community-led model to curb mosquito-borne diseases. We
are proud of the impact this association has made in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, and we remain dedicated to expanding our efforts to
reach more communities in need.”

“EMBED program has successfully established a scalable model that can aid
high-burden villages in achieving the goal of eliminating malaria in India by
2030. Their unwavering commitment in Madhya Pradesh is a testament to their
dedication to making India free of malaria. We are committed to expanding this
program across newer Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh geographies. We aim to
cover more than 1300 villages across four states and impact the lives of over
11 million people,” she added.

EMBED has been implemented in nine Madhya Pradesh districts, four
Uttar Pradesh districts and two Chhattisgarh districts, reaching over 9 million
people across 2,000+ villages. The success has been driven by the commitment of
the communities involved, with 92% of households actively taking measures to
keep their homes and surroundings clean. Godrej has further launched Goodknight Mini Liquid and HIT No-Gas
Spray, making safe, effective, and affordable household repellents to safeguard
citizens accessible to low-income groups. The company is committed to expanding
this program across newer geographies in Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and
achieving the goal of eliminating malaria in India by 2030.

“With funding support from Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Family Health India (FH India) has supported the State Vector
Borne Disease Control Programme, the Government of Madhya Pradesh, in its goal
of eliminating malaria by 2030. The behaviour change communication tools and
online training module have been adopted by the State and scaled across all
districts in Madhya Pradesh. We are proud of our partnership with Godrej and
the Department of Public Health and Family Welfare, Government of Madhya
Pradesh and continue striving towards the malaria elimination goal in the State,” added Dr Bitra
George, Director, Family Health India.