Tripura minister Sudip Roy Barman on July 31 said malaria cases are decreasing in Tripura and asked officials to ensure early detection of communicable diseases to prevent outbreaks.

While addressing an event on prevention of communicable diseases at Pragna Bhawan here this afternoon, the state health minister laid stress on disease control and said Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) under the National Health Mission should be used to prevent outbreaks.

Malaria, dengue and other vector-borne diseases are endemic in several parts of Tripura, the minister said, adding, over 5,000 malaria cases were detected in different hospitals in Tripura last year. In addition, 80 cases of dengue and 44 cases of chikungunya were detected, Barman said. A total of 98 people were found to have been infected with Japanese encephalitis in 2017, he said.

The minister also said two people died of malaria this year and one person died of Japanese encephalitis. No deaths were reported due to dengue, chikungunya, influenza, swine flu or other diseases this year, he said. "We were able to check malaria cases when compared to massive outbreak in 2009 and 2014," he said, adding, proper diagnostic system should be put in place.

He also sought suggestion to combat diseases such as malaria, chikungunya, dengue and Japanese encephalitis. Coordinated approaches, among different healthcare agencies, including National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) and Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) could yield good results, Barman added.