Himachal to have malaria research station

Shimla, Feb 24 (IANS) The union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to open a malaria research station in Himachal Pradesh's remote Lahaul valley to provide treatment to nature-specific diseases, a statement said Tuesday.

The Indian Council of Medical Research, under the ministry of health, has decided to open a field station of the National Institute of Malaria Research in Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district, a statement quoting local legislator Ravi Thakur said.

It said union Health Minister J.P. Nadda would open the field station in June. It would cater to the specific ailments and diseases of the people living in the remote areas of the state.

Even defence and paramilitary personnel deployed along the international border would get benefit from it.

The station will also have a telemedicine centre and ISRO satellite station for medicine in the future, it added.

The entire Lahaul and Spiti district is populated mainly by tribals. The climatic conditions of the district are harsh as much of the land forms part of a cold desert where the mercury drops below minus 20 degrees Celsius during winter.

The Buddhist-dominated district in the Himalayan terrain is at elevations ranging from 15,000 to 20,000 feet above sea level.

The district has no town; the population is rural, spread across 521 villages.