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21.07.2017 Social News

Ghana Health Service committed to fighting malaria

21.07.2017 LISTEN
By GNA

Wa, July 21, GNA - Dr Winfred Ofosu, the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services has reiterated the commitment of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to the fight against the complete eradication of malaria in the country.

He noted that combating malaria remained one of the top priorities of the GHS, adding that it would not relent on its efforts to ensuring a malaria free country.

Mr Ofosu stated this at a stakeholders' engagement meeting in Wa to discuss the effective ways of implementing the 2017 Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) intervention in the region.

The SMC intervention formed part of the Global Fund sponsored flagship National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) which is aimed at reducing the malaria prevalence rate in highly endemic areas in the country.

Mr Ofosu stated that the intervention which would cover about 155,736 children between three to 59 months in the Upper West Region also covered the Upper East Region.

He explained that the SMC intervention was an effective malaria prevention method which had helped reduce the malarial prevalence rate from 51 per cent in 2011 to 37.8 per cent in 2014 which had further declined to 22 percent in 2016.

Mr Ofosu therefore expressed optimism that the intervention would help to eradicate malaria in the country if all stakeholders, especially, parents cooperated with the GHS throughout the implementation process.

Mr Titus Tagoe, the Upper West Regional Malaria Focal Person indicated that Ghana incorporated the SMC intervention which was a World Health Organisation's (WHO's) recommendation to fight malaria in 'highly seasonal transmission areas of the Sahel sub-region in Africa' as an additional intervention in the 2014-2020 Malaria Control Strategic Plan.

He explained that SMC intervention was initially targeted to be implemented in the Northern, Upper West and Upper East Regions but added that financial constraints hampered its effective implementation.

The implementation of the SMC intervention in this year would commence on July 24 and end in September this year.

Representatives of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Food and Drugs Authority and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) among others attended the meeting.

GNA

By Philip Tenzu, GNA

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