A total number of 2,240,202 registered people across the 25 districts of the Volta region are expected to benefit from the distribution of 1,414,62 Long Lasting Insecticide Nets.

The distribution of the LLIN will commence from March 27 to 29 and will continue after the Easter festivities, from April 3 to 6 this year.

Dr. Yaw Ofori Yeboah, the Deputy Volta Regional Director of Public Health of the Ghana Health Service, making this known at 2018 LLIN Distribution Stakeholders Meeting ahead of the National Campaign launch, said the distribution of the nets is free of charge and charged the public to report anyone seen selling the nets.

He added that the ideal usage is two persons per mosquito net.

To ensure a smooth and fair exercise without nets being diverted to unapproved endpoints, he said the Ministry is working in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service.

He advised users against frequent washing of the nets to protect the efficacy of the chemicals in them. He also warned the general public against the use of the net for food preservation and purposes which are not in line with the fight against malaria.

The average Long Lasting Insecticide Net, LLIN  approved by the Ministry of Health has on it contact numbers of Ghana Health Service and its logo, and can last for a maximum of three (3) years.

Togbe Kweku Ayim IIII, Paramount Chief of Ziavi Traditional area, addressing the participants suggested that much education on the use of the LLIN should be channeled through religious and traditional leaders in the various communities to achieve significant results.

The workshop held in Ho was attended by representatives of  Red Cross, Department of Children and Women, NADMO, NCCE, Media, Religious and Traditional leaders.

The  Ministry (MoH) in partnership with, USAID, PMI, Vector  Words and GlobalFund will later launch the National Distribution Campaign on March 28 at Adidome in the North Tongu district of the Volta region.

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By: King Nobert Akpabli/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Region made progress in malaria control, as the proportion of suspected malaria treatment increased from 86.4 per cent in 2016 to 93.8 in 2017, while fatality rate for children under five declined consistently from 0.72 per cent in 2015 to 0.51 and 0.3 in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

[contextly_sidebar id=”GEs4cr3DJjJYITlFCAib83p3w7KOq3wP”]Mr. Abilba however said the figures could further decline if the media comes on board to help spread the message on the effective and proper use of the LLIN to ensure a malaria free society.

He said even though there was data to show that the Upper East was one of the Regions with high availability and access to bed nets in the country, the usage was a challenge, “most of us have bed nets, but how many of us sleep under them, so it is important for the media to help us in this aspect.”

Mr. Abilba made the call in Navrongo at a media training workshop organised by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), in partnership with the Navrongo Health Research Centre (NHRC) and the Ghana Health Service with sponsorship from Comic Relief UK and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

The event was held on the theme: “The role of the media in strengthening the quality of malaria care and surveillance in Ghanaian communities,” and brought together about 13 Journalists drawn from different media outfits within the Region to school them on malaria and its prevention.

He said the initial chemicals used on the Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) had a short life span of three months, but the current chemical used on the LLINs would last for three years, and said the ideal thing to do was to get the net that could contain the insecticide for a long time.

Mr. Abilba indicated that the essence of the LLIN was not for people to just own it, but to use it to prevent mosquito bites, and said with the support of the media, education on its use would reach a greater population because it was one of the challenges facing the Public Health Unit in the Region.

The focal person said there were LLINs mass distributions extended to antenatal and measles 2 clients and schools.

The Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC), Malaria Case Management and Capacity Building Trainings were all part of malaria control interventions on-going in the Region, he said.

Mr. Abilba, who is also a Medical Entomologist, attributed challenges of malaria treatment to poor health seeking behaviour of parents for children under five years, high Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp), high dropout rate during treatment and poor LLIN use.

He said it was the Region’s priority to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality by improving Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT), Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) services for pregnant women, reduce human-malaria vector contact and under five-year malaria case fatality, improve malaria diagnosis and its case management, and also to audit all deaths attributed to the disease.

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Source: GNA

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The period also saw a reduction in institutional deaths under-five from 31 in 2016 to 19 in 2017, while the teenage pregnancy rate also reduced marginally from 15 per cent in 2016 to 13 per cent in 2017.

The Municipal Health Director, Georgina Graham-Hayfron said the feat was despite the fact that malaria continued to be the main cause of illness in the Municipality with 20 per cent of all cases being confirmed.

Ms Graham-Hayfron was addressing the 2017 Annual Performance Review Meeting of the Directorate at Saltpond on Friday.

She said Out Patient Department (OPD) cases reduced from 13,755 in 2016 to 11,099 in 2017.

She said malaria still topped cases reported at the OPD with 30,039 cases followed by Upper Respiratory Tract infections, skin diseases and diarrhoea respectively.

She said the Directorate recorded 94 stillbirths in 2017 as against 92 in 2016 and six cases of maternal deaths compared to the five recorded in 2016.

Ms. Graham-Hayfron implored all stakeholders to support the Directorate’s rigorous ongoing activities in HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the diseases.

She said delays in the release of funds by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to the health facilities remained the biggest challenge of the Directorate.

She disclosed that the NHIA owed some health facilities in the Municipality GH¢ 851,362.78 with the highest debt owed to the Mankessim Sub Municipal.

High institutional maternal mortality (150 per 100,000 live births), high still birth rate (22 per 1000 live births), inadequate midwives, nurses and doctors and delay in seeking health care by community members, especially pregnant women, were among the problems facing the Directorate.

Ms Graham-Hayfron said the Directorate hoped to reduce institutional maternal mortality from 150 per 100,000 to 50 per 100,000 live births by the end of 2018 through improved services and stakeholder engagement.

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Source: GNA

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The number of admissions also reduced from 176,930 last year, to 145,986 in 2017, as well as deaths reducing from 696 in 2016 half year, to 266 in the same period in 2017, representing a percentage decrease of 17.5 percent, and 62 percent in admissions and deaths respectively.

Dr. Kezia Malm, acting National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) Manager at the maiden “Malaria Safe” award at Takoradi, said in recognition to the tremendous commitment and efforts at fighting the disease, the NMCP and its partners would continue to provide the relevant guidance regarding malaria control policies and interventions.

[contextly_sidebar id=”zwXakI0mFzynKjsJ9fab2nsl4daSZEH4″]The Malaria Safe, is an initiative led by the Private Sector malaria Prevention project of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Communication programmes, funded by the UK’s DFID to help businesses tackle malaria as a serious workplace issue which must be promptly dealt with in increasing productivity and growth.

Dr. Malm said the private sector was key in the project since they employed a chunk of Ghana’s population, “Therefore, if we can get the private sector to lead or at the minimum support in the efforts of making their working force malaria free, then it means we have won the battle for a huge proportion of the Ghanaian population”.

The NMCP Manager said malaria was a disease that affected millions of Ghanaians and in this year alone, an average of 25,140 suspected cases were recorded daily making it a critical public health issue.

“Studies have shown that, 30 days of work in the year was lost to malaria. The disease continues to have severe socio-economic impact on families and a cause to household poverty, therefore eliminating malaria is not a one man’s task, neither is it for one institution but a collaborative effort by all sectors”, she added.

Mr. Felix Nyarnor Fosu, Chief of party, Private Sector Malaria Programme, said the project was supporting the NMCP to among other things to invigorate private sector contributions to malaria control through institutional sales of insecticide treated nets, and boost domestic resources mobilization for malaria prevention through increased advocacy.

He said the awards was therefore to recognize the contributions of companies which had contributed immensely to prevent malaria and its effects on their employees and dependents and their host communities.

The Chief of Party said the awards categorized into special malaria safe awards and malaria control activities recognition was to showcase the commitment made by some companies in the Western Region, and the need for more companies to support the project.

The special awards went to Anglogold Ashanti iduapriem gold mine, Golden Star resources limited, Zeal Environmental Technologies, Benso Oil Palm Plantation Limited and Norplan, whilst Goldfields Ghana Limited, Ghana Rubber Estates limited, Samatex, ENI Ghana limited and persus Mining Ghana limited were recognized for their malaria control activities.

Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, the Western Regional Minister, pledged the regional coordinating council’s support to ensure that the project was a success in the region.

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Source: GNA

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Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO’s global malaria programme, is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying:

“We want [this to be] a wake-up call to the malaria community. We are not on track, and we need to get back on track.”

Last year the number of people infected by malaria was up by five million on the previous year.

Funding has been allowed to plateau over the last 10 years, the WHO said.

It also said a complacent attitude to the disease has seen a drop in the use of preventative tools such as bed nets, indoor spraying and primary healthcare.

More than 400,000 people died of the disease in 2016, the vast majority being children under five.

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Source: BBC

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Her appeal comes at the back of a cheque presentation by HFC Bank (Ghana) Limited, to Infant Malaria Prevention Foundation, a Non-Government Organization chaired by the First Lady, to help in the building of a Community-Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) Compound at Nyanshegu a suburb of Tamale, Northern Region

In August 2017, HFC Bank, in collaboration with Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation, launched the HFC-Infanta Ride Out Malaria Cycling Tour; to create awareness and to raise funds towards the building of the CHPS compound.

This was done by thirteen cyclists who embarked on a 688 kilometer journey from Tamale to Accra within eight days.

Speaking at the presentation, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo said such partnership will help provide some essential services to Ghanaians and reduce the pressure on government.

“Even though some are more fortunate than others, a lot can be done for our own people as we try to create a minimum level of access to health care for everyone. Imagine what could be achieved as a county if all corporate institutions and individuals get involved in the provision of essential services. I therefore urge all Ghanaians and corporate institutions to build the spirit of volunteerism and social responsibility. Lets us build this nation together.”

Presenting a gold medal to the 13 participants and individuals who helped to raise the fund, the first lady while pledging her support, promised to mobilize resources to improve the welfare of mothers and children in the country.

“ I thank everybody who donated to this initiative. Because of your generosity, a child will be saved and a pregnant mother will be assured of decent healthcare. Because of you, the people of Nyanshegu can boast of a community health centre. Because of such selflessness, humanity can have hope for the future.”

Presenting the two hundred and seventy thousand Ghana cedis cheque to Infanta Malaria, board chairman for HFC Bank, Charles zwennes, thanked the first lady for the partnership and promised more collaboration in the future.

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By: Felicia Osei/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The initiative will among other things bring together stakeholders to identify strategies that specifically pay attention to the poor and marginalized groups affected by malaria and malnutrition.

Speaking at the launch, the First Lady called for a total commitment to the fight against malaria and malnutrition, as it continues to have dire consequences on the nation’s economy and development.

“The burden malaria and malnutrition places on our national economy and development has been well explained over the years, ranging from school and work absenteeism, high health expenditure in the family and burden on the national budget. Although we recognize that these issues have been with us for many years, it is still not acceptable that in this day and age Ghana should lose any child or pregnant woman to Malaria or under-nutrition. I believe that within the existing human and institutional resources available in this country, we can make a significant difference in reducing malnutrition and malaria.”

According to her, the creation of more Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS)  projects, will be key in addressing malnutrition and malaria since it has the ability to reach many malnourished children through household follow-ups and coordination with community health volunteers.

On his part, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, stressed on the need for more public-private partnership in the fight.

According to him, statistics available to the service indicates that in 2016, the country recorded 10.4 million suspected cases of Out Patient Department (OPD) for malaria, which is an increase from the 10.1 million suspected cases recorded in 2015, representing about 2.5% increase.

It therefore translates that, approximately 28,607 cases are seen each day in all health facilities across the country.

Other agencies present at the launch including the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture, also pledged their support in tackling the situation.

The event was attended by the Deputy Minister for Health, Tina Mensah, Deputy Minister for Agriculture William Agyapong Quaitoo, the Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Felix Anyah and other dignitaries.

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By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said malaria case fatality had also declined from 0.68 to 0.31 in the first quarter of this year.

Dr Barikisu disclosed this during Malaria World day event organised by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Systems for Health at Gbalahi community in the Sagnarigu District over the weekend to address the challenges of malaria in the country.

He said the occasion was also to build the capacity of health staff on the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of malaria in the country.

Dr Barikisu said malaria remained a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the country and needed to be totally addressed.

He also added that Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy (IPTP) involved anti- malarial medication given as part of antenatal care-package, which should be given to pregnant women from 16 weeks and above.

Dr Barikisu appealed to traditional leaders and health personnel to encourage community members to sleep in treated mosquito nets for prevention.

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Source: GNA

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The injectable vaccine RTS,S could provide limited protection against a disease that killed 429,000 people worldwide in 2015, with 92 percent of victims in Africa and two-thirds of them children under five.

“The prospect of a malaria vaccine is great news. Information gathered in the pilot will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa.

[contextly_sidebar id=”I7qtULPb9VTrK8cHpmAJGLovhUijCpo2″]The vaccine should be used alongside other preventative measures such as bed nets, insecticides, repellents and anti-malarial drugs, the WHO said.

“Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa,” Moeti said.

“This vaccine is a weapon amongst others, it is one of the tools at our disposal,” she added.

The vaccine, also known as Mosquirix, has been developed by the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, and the large-scale three-country pilot will test it on children aged five to 17 months.

The drug passed previous scientific testing — including a phase three clinical trial between 2009 and 2014 — and was approved for the pilot programme in 2015.

Huge impact’ 

The aim of the trial is to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine as well the feasibility of its delivery to populations at risk as four successive doses must be given on a strict timetable.

The immunisation cycle is not in sync with routine childhood inoculations against diseases such as hepatitis, measles and meningitis, with injections required at five months, six months, seven months and two years.

Symptoms of malaria include fever, muscle pain and headache as well as vomiting and diarrhoea.

While RTS,S does not promise full protection against the mosquito-borne disease it is the most effective potential vaccine so far developed reducing the number of hospitalisations and blood transfusions.

Malaria episodes reduced by 40 percent in tests on 15,000 people in seven countries over five years of clinical trials, and could therefore save hundreds of thousands of lives.

“It’s an efficacy rate which is quite low, but given the amount of affected people, the impact will be huge,” said Mary Hamel, who is coordinating the vaccine’s implementation programme.

“There will be other vaccines and they’ll be more efficient, but in the meantime, this will have a significant influence.”

Moeti emphasised that while the dream is “a vaccine that replaces everything”, insecticide-treated bed nets remain the most effective protection against malaria, which remain, “at the moment, our strongest preventive weapon”.

Kenya, Ghana and Malawi were selected for the trial because malaria rates are high and they have a long history of use of bed nets and other interventions.

The large-scale pilot is the latest step in decades of work seeking to eradicate malaria with the numbers dying falling nearly two-thirds since the turn of the century.

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Source: AFP

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The 30-day Indoor Residual Spraying Campaign programme will begin from April 25, and end on May 29, in the beneficiary districts, which include Bunkpurugu Yunyoo, East Mamprusi, West Mamprusi, Kumbungu, Mamprugu Moaduri, Gushegu and Karaga.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dWLUcfVkUqAIir901h7I602LdbhTcWRY”]The campaign is a project being implemented under the United States Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI), which started in the Northern Region since 2008 under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Mr Ernest Fletcher, Country Operations Manager at the Africa Indoor Residual Spraying (AIRS), who elaborated on the campaign during its launch at Karaga, said rooms and walls of houses in malaria-prone communities would be sprayed with long lasting insecticides to prevent malaria.

Mr Fletcher encouraged the sprayers and beneficiaries to observe the necessary precautions during the spraying exercise to ensure success of the campaign.

Dr Yemane Yidhego, Chief of Party at AIRS called on beneficiaries to give access to the spraying operators to spray all rooms to avoid malaria, which killed a lot of people in the country in previous years.

During the launch, community spray operators demonstrated how the spraying would be done and the precautions to be taken before, during and after the spraying exercise.

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Source: GNA

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