NGO ends workshop on malaria control

About 500 participants drawn from 20 Units of the Abibiman Sankofa Cultural Movement (ASCUM) in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District of the Eastern Region, on Saturday ended a two-day seminar on the "Control of Malaria" at Amanase near Suhum.

The workshop, which was organised by ASCUM, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), was aimed at updating the knowledge of the participants on the disease, so as to support malaria programmes in the district, especially within the 26 Units of ASCUM.

Mr Freeman Madzi, Executive Director of ASCUM, reminded the participants that malaria was a killer disease and was no respecter of the old, young or the child.

Mr Madzi said Artesunate-Amodiaquine now circulating in the country was a replacement for chloroqine as a first line treatment for malaria, and cautioned against the indiscriminate use of the drug.

The Executive Director therefore, advised people suffering from malaria, to attend hospital for the correct prescription instead of going to drugs stores to purchase drugs on their own.

He advised people "to create a barrier between them and mosquitoes" by sleeping in mosquito treated nets and also to ensure that their surroundings were weeded at all times.

Mr Emmanuel Annor, Zonal Committee member, stressed the importance of antenatal clinics and urged the participants to monitor pregnant women in their areas, to ensure that they attended antenatal clinics regularly.