World Malaria Day Marked With Community Outreach Programme

A Community Outreach Programme has taken place at Glefe, a suburb of Accra, to mark this year's World Malaria Day.

The programme, organized by Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Ghana Foundation in partnership with the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), aimed to create awareness about the devastating effects of Malaria and its prevention, with a focus on pregnant women and lactating mothers, each of whom received one Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) at the programme.

World Malaria Day 2017 was organized on the theme: 'End Malaria For Good' with the sub-theme: 'The Malaria Elimination Agenda-- Empowering Communities To Get Involved'.

In an address, Ms Rhoderlyn Entsua-Mensah, Manager, Sustainability & Social Impact, MTN Ghana Foundation, urged all Ghanaians to treat malaria as a serious health issue because it could kill within 24 hours, adding that prevention was always better than cure.

Ms Entsua-Mensah said the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of eliminating malaria by 2030 called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders and pledged the commitment of MTN Ghana Foundation to contributing its quota to such efforts.

She gave the assurance that MTN Ghana Foundation would continue to build on its past successes and improve its efforts at increasing awareness about malaria and its effects in order to eliminate the disease for good.

Speaking at the function, Naa Teteiko, Queen mother of Glefe, stressed the need for all, particularly pregnant women and lactating mothers, to protect themselves from mosquito bites as a means of preventing malaria.

Naa Teteiko said protection from mosquito bites would require the maintenance of environmental cleanliness and the adoption of proper waste disposal methods.

Mrs Ellen Sam, Board Chairman, AMMREN and Malaria Focal Person, Ghana Police Hospital, in a presentation, reiterated the importance of prevention as the best form of protection against malaria.

Mrs Sam said effective malaria prevention entailed the maintenance of cleanliness and the observation of environmental hygiene.

She urged pregnant women to visit ante-natal clinics and use ITNs and that signs of malaria should immediately be reported at the hospital for treatment while those diagnosed of malaria should take the complete course of medication prescribed for them.

In a welcome address, Mr Albert Fynn, Board member, AMMREN, disclosed that Ghana, Kenya and Malawi would take part in a World Health Organization (WHO)-co-ordinated pilot implementation programme that would make the world's first malaria vaccine available in selected areas, beginning 2018.

Mr Fynn said in line with its mission to sustain advocacy on malaria through a mix of old and new tools, AMMREN had actively engaged various stakeholders in a post-2015 agenda towards the elimination of malaria and the acceptance of the experimental RTS,S malaria vaccine.

He said there was the need to kick malaria out and urged all stakeholders to join AMMREN carry out a sustained media advocacy project on malaria elimination and to push for the public acceptance of the RTS's vaccine.

Source: ISD (G.D. Zaney)

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