Nation inherited Malaria from British Rule. At India’s independence during 1947, 22% population of nation was suffering  from Malaria with 7.50 crore cases 8 lakh deaths every year. National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) was launched in 1953 to combat Malaria, with 3 activities :-

Insecticidal residual spray (IRS) with DDT

 Monitoring and surveillance of cases

Treatment of patients

NMCT Programme rapidly brought down Malaria morbidity and mortality in India within a few years. Encouraged by  success. NMCP was upgraded to National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP) during 1958. Massive resurgence of malaria occurred during 1976 with 64.6 lakh cases reported. Studies attributed malaria flare to :-

Poor health infrastructure

Lack of monitoring and logistics

Chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum

Insecticide resistant vector

Consequently during 1977, a modified plan of operations (MPO) was launched with a three-pronged strategy :-

Early diagnosis and prompt treatment

Vector control

Awareness and Action. Awareness generated through Information Education Communication (IEC). Action enabled through Behaviour Change Communication (BCC).

Community participation contributed to fruitful implementation. During 1984 Malaria cases declined to 20 lakhs with 247 deaths. For malaria in high transmission areas of the country, an Enhanced Malaria Control Project (EMCP) was launched with additional support from the World Bank during 1997. That was followed by Intensified Malaria Control Project (IMCP) launched with support of The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) during 2005. Malaria control programme and other Vector Borne Diseases namely Kala-azar, Dengue, Lymphatic Filariasis, Japanese Encephalitis and Chikungunya were integrated into the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) during 2002. New tools for malaria prevention and control were introduced under NVBDCP :-

Monovalent RDTs for Plasmodium falciparum detection during 2005

ACT during 2006

LLINs during 2009

Antigen detecting bi-valent RDTs for detection of both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax during 2013

Newer insecticides and larvicides during 2014-15.

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