Miss Vivian Abiwu, Programme Officer, Voices Malaria-Free Ghana Project, has urged Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies, to arrange for adequate budget allocations towards the control of malaria in communities.
She reiterated that "Money spent on malaria control is money saved for promoting development", hence Assemblies should dialogue with the District Health Management Teams (DHMTS) and support them with funds to carry out
advocacy programmes on malaria.
Ms. Abiwu was addressing a stakeholders' forum at Busunya, organized to form a District Malaria Advocacy Team (DMAT), to sensitize the people to help prevent malaria in the communities.
Sponsored by the John Hopkins University Centre for Communication Programmes in Accra, the forum was also aimed at involving the stakeholders in the district in the prevention and control of malaria, to enhance the proper development of the communities.
Ms. Abiwu appealed to assembly members, religious leaders, teachers and traditional authorities, to carry out massive educational programmes to help the people to live in clean environment that would protect them against
malaria.
Mr. Donatus Achisiba, District Director of Health Services, commended the organizers for involving the District in the malaria-free advocacy programmes.
He stressed that malaria had continuously been the top-most of all Out Patient Department (OPD) cases in all the health facilities, which had also claimed the lives of some pregnant women and children below five years.
Mr. Achisiba disclosed that the directorate had trained about 100 Community Based Surveillance (CBS) volunteers in Home Based Care and Management of malaria cases.
He announced that all the health facilities in the district had been equipped with Artesunate Amoadiaquine, the first line drug against malaria
for its treatment.
Mr. Kwadwo Adjei-Dwomoh, Nkoranza North District Chief Executive, said the control and prevention of malaria was a shared responsibility of all, and advised the people to promote environmental sanitation to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.
He gave the assurance that the assembly would provide the necessary financial support and logistics to enhance the malaria free advocacy
programme in the district.
Madam Victoria Tetteh, also a programme officer of the John Hopkins University Centre for communication programme, stressed the need for
pregnant women to attend regular antenatal clinics to receive the intermittent preventive treatment, and protect themselves and their babies against malaria.