Mangalore, November 2: With over 5,000 children from 24 schools taking part in an inter-school drawing competition for students aged 10 to 15 themed 'Art of Fighting Malaria' organised in Mangalore by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) based in Geneva, the event saw an overwhelming response.
Ten students shortlisted from 100 finalists were awarded special prizes at an award ceremony held on Friday at the Town Hall here, along with a cash prize of Rs 1,000 each. The programme was organised in collaboration with Centre for Integrated Learning (CIL), Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Dakshina Kannada District Health Department and Mangalore City Corporation.
Delivering the key-note address, Dr M V Prabhu, Dean of KMC, said that organising such programmes generated social awareness in future generations in fighting malaria. “The spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria can be controlled if breeding of mosquitoes is controlled. The future lies in successfully finding a vaccination for malaria, both preventive as well as curative. Even 115 years after malarial parasites were discovered in mosquitoes in 1897, we are still groping in the dark with regard to eradicating malaria. Emphasis should be given to getting a preventive medicine for malaria,” he said.
Diana Cotran, Executive vice president (Operations), MMV Geneva, said that the venture had spent over a billion dollars to build a medicine from scratch, and had begun clinical trials with KMC four years ago.
Speaking about the venture and the competition, she said that MMV had organised awareness programmes since 2002 in countries plagued by malaria such as Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and India. “The enthusiasm shown in similar programmes held by MMV in other places was nothing like the enthusiasm found in Mangalore. The number of participants in the competition was five times more than in any other country. I encountered fresh imagination and creative art work in the paintings made by them. Their art has revealed commitment and knowledge needed to defeat malaria,” she acclaimed.
A skit-and-dance performance on the same theme was given by students of Infant Jesus Joyland School, Mangalore. Students of Chinmaya School sang a theme song created especially for the month-long event.
Dr P V Venugopal, Advisor of World Health Organisation, distributed the prizes to the students whose paintings were selected as the ten best paintings. Among them were Akash Shetty, Dhwithi Rai, Rajalakshmi, Shubham, Suraj and Vasudha.
Dr Shantaram Baliga, head of department of paediatrics, KMC, welcomed the gathering while Sachitha Nandagopal, Executive Director of Centre for Integrated Learning, delivered a vote of thanks.
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