In Ghana, malaria accounts for more than 44 percent of visits to health facilities. UNICEF estimates that 20 thousand Ghanaian children under the age of five die each year of malaria.
The disease is said to be one of the major causes of poverty and mortality in the country. Under the United States of America’s President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), with a goal to reduce malaria deaths by half among the most risky groups: pregnant women and children under five, Ghana has been chosen as a new focus country.
A total of $1.2 billion has been allotted for the five-year initiative in 15 of the highest-burden countries in Africa.
In Ghana, PMI will operate for three years from 2008 through 2010 and will provide $17 million worth of support for malaria control efforts each year.
According to USAID’s Ghana Director, Mr. Robert Hellyer, although the PMI targets are ambitious they are attainable. “After three years of implementation, we anticipate that 85 percent of Ghana’s young children, pregnant mothers and households will benefit from these life-saving measures.”
Mr. Hellyer was speaking at the start of a PMI Malaria Walk to pave the way for the official launch of the PMI at a durbar to be held in Agona Abodom in the Central region. He described malaria as an ever present threat in the lives of many Ghanaians.
He was however optimistic that children and mothers can be protected from malaria and its deadly complications such as anemia, low birth weight and brain damage.
“We can teach families to treat malaria quickly and effectively at home, before a child falls very sick. We can keep adults out of the hospital and at work. We have the tools to drive malaria away,” he stressed.
As part of the programme professional walkers and a traveling malaria road show departed the office of the National Malaria Control Programme, (NMCP) in Accra on Monday December 10, 2007 to embark on a three-day malaria awareness walk and road show that ended at the durbar in Agona Abodom.
There were stopovers at Bujumbura, Winneba and Agona Swedru.
The road show employed music, drama, malaria talks and distribution of fact sheets, Insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITN) and other educative materials to heighten interest in malaria control.
The Programme Manager of the Malaria Control Programme, Dr. Constance Bart-Plange explained that the PMI is not going to do anything different but help Ghana to rapidly scale up four proven and effective malaria control methods.
“ITN will be distributed with PMI support throughout Ghana. Indoor residual spraying campaigns will be conducted in targeted districts through spraying of 100,000 households, building on the experience of AngloGold Ashanti.”
Dr. Bart-Plange believes that it is time for Ghanaians to stop creating breeding places. “If others are coming in to help us, we must help ourselves. It is time to also take the bull by the horn and move from malaria control to elimination.”
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