KHAIRPUR: Pakistan People’s Party MNA Nafeesa Shah on Tuesday disclosed that two talukas (sub-divisions) of Khairpur district – Nara and Khairpur – are on the high risk of malaria. She urged the Directorate of Malaria Control Programme in Sindh, WHO, NGOs and others to work on malaria prevention in these areas. Addressing a ceremony held at Civil Hospital Khairpur on Tuesday to observe World Malaria Day, she urged malaria control board and others to work for the awareness on malaria prevention in the high-risk areas. On the occasion, Malaria Control Programme Director Dr Naheed Jamali said that 1.1 million mosquito nets to save the locals from mosquitoes had been distributed among people in Khairpur district, while 125 malaria centres were working in all eight talukas of the district. She said that 25 malaria centres had also been handed over to the private sectors. She said that in the future, 177 malaria centres would be established to facilitate the people. She urged doctors not to issue prescriptions of medicines prior the microscopic (MP) tests to check whether the patient was suffering from malaria or dengue. Khairpur Medical College Principal Professor Dr. Asadullah Mahar, addressing the gathering, stressed the need for taking preventive measures against malaria and dengue and urged scholars for more research in this regard. The ceremony was addressed among others by Dr Nazar Hussain Mahar, Farukh Hussain Bhambhro and Dr Kiran Zulfiqar.