'Too Much Being Spent On Malaria Cure'

The Minister of Health, Major Courage Quarshigah (retd), has described as alarming the $762-million expenditure on malaria per annum and said that should be a wake-up call for all to adopt preventive measures to reduce the impact of the disease on the economy.##[Read more]##

According to him, although the ministry was doing its best to reduce malaria infections, not much was being achieved and indicated that all hands must be on deck to bring the situation under control.

The Health Minister said this when the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, inaugurated a new Chiropractic Wellness Centre at Dzorwulu in Accra yesterday.

Chiropractic and massage therapy, used in combination, form a powerful healing approach to relieving one's pain and increasing his/her body's mobility and resilience.

“If this amount that we spend every year is channelled into the provision of social infrastructure, our country will be more developed than it is today,” he added.

The Health Minister made the observation at a time when the various parts of the country's major cities, particularly Accra, have been engulfed in filth and stagnant waters, the two conditions that enhance mass breeding of mosquitoes which cause malaria.

Major Quarshigah said the budgets on other diseases were equally alarming but did not disclose the amount except to add that the country was spending too much on the curative aspect of medicine.

He said Ghanaians had to embrace the need to take the right diet and also ensure a clean surrounding.

The life expectancy rate in the country has been put at 57 years by the Ministry of Health and this, Major Quarshigah described as unfortunate and urged all to be careful of what they ate and how they kept their surroundings.

Alhaji Mahama, in commending the owner of the centre, said, “at a time when the life expectancy of Ghanaians is declining at an unacceptable rate, this is an event which is not only dear to my heart but relevant to the health needs of the nation”.

He said in spite of the fact that effective health care provision required a concerted effort on the part of the citizenry, the government, communities, and the private sector remained a vital partner in health care provision.

“A more essential collaboration between the government and the private sector, which is the engine of growth, is required in order to fully cater for the health needs of the populace and ensure better health for Ghanaians,” he said.

He said often, preventive measures were more sustainable than curative ones and it was against this background that the focus of health care in Ghana had recently emphasised the need for regenerative health.

For his part, Dr Marcus Manns, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the centre, said the services at the centre were virtually free, a move that is meant to entice many more people to patronise it to improve their health.

Story By Charles Benoni Okine