Malaria

Malaria is a life-threatening, mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that represents a major vector-borne health burden in India.

• It serves as a critical indicator of primary public health delivery, disease surveillance, and local sanitation governance across rural and urban India.
• It demonstrates the operational challenges of combating antimalarial drug resistance and integrating biotechnological innovations like novel vaccines into national immunization programs.
• It directly connects domestic health policy with global commitments, including Sustainable Development Goal 3 and India's target to eliminate malaria by 2030.

UPSC frames questions on malaria primarily through the dual lenses of public health governance and technological innovation. In GS Paper III, the focus is on scientific advances such as gene-drive vector control, vaccine development, and managing artemisinin resistance in parasites. In GS Paper II, questions evaluate the administrative effectiveness of vector-borne disease control programs, climate-induced epidemiological shifts, and inter-sectoral coordination.

• Social Sector/Services: health, education, human resources GS2

• COVID-19
• Dengue
• Monkeypox
• Nipah Virus
• Zika Virus