Article published in the Daily Graphic - 2 May, 2009
Newmont Ghana Gold limited (NGGL), which is operating the Ahafo Mine in the Brong Ahafo Region, is to launch an integrated community malarial control Programme as part of the company’s efforts to eradicate the menace in its host communities.
Under the first phase of the Programme, the Gyedu Health Center Laboratory will be equipped with diagnostic equipment to be manned by trained laboratory technicians.
In addition, the company will distribute free treated nets to households at two of its settlement sites at Ntotroso and Ola senior high school.
The community development superintendent of NGGL, Mr. Joseph Danso, announced this at a durbar to commemorate the district celebration of this year’s World Malaria Day at Ntotroso, which was on the theme , “Counting Malaria Out”. It was jointly organized by the Asutifi district health directorate and NGGL.
To show its commitment, Newmont distributed 500 long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets (INTs) to pregnant women and children under five years and treated old bed nets for the community at the function.
Mr. Danso has also announced plans by the company to organize a malarial quiz competition for selected second –cycle institutions within its operational area , and expressed the hope that the competition would be keener than it was last year, saying “At Newmont, our fight against malaria does not start and end on world malaria day.”
The superintendent observed that malaria had plagued humanity for a long time and it continued to impact about 40 per cent of the world’s population, affecting more than 500 million people per year and killing over one million.
“This is a disease that kills 3,000 children per day” he noted, saying that complications from malaria, including severe anemia account for at least a million more deaths, while malaria takes as much as 40 per cent of public health expenditure in malarial endemic areas, with Ghana being no exception.”
He emphasized that in Ghana, malaria accounted for about 40 percent of all out-patient department (OPD) cases and accounted for about 25 per cent of all under five mortality cases.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Director of health services, Dr. Aaron Offei, disclosed that the current poor personal and environmental sanitation in towns and villages, made it difficult to address diseases of public health importance such as malarial and guinea worm.
He described the disease burden of malaria in the region as enormous, pointing out that in the year 2007, 49 per cent of all patients seen in hospitals and health centers were malarial cases, but said the figure reduced to 44 per cent in 2008.
Dr. Offei noted that it was clear the malaria disease contributed to low productivity and absenteeism in schools in the region and that the regional health directorate had intensified activities to control the disease, including public education and advocacy for improved access to potable water.
The Asutifi District Director of health services, Mr. John Frederick Dadzie, said in 2006, malaria contributed 36 per cent of all cases while in 2007 it was 37 per cent and in 2008, 36.5 per cent.
Mr. Dadzie, however, noted that the ranking of malaria among the top ten causes of mortality was reducing gradually, and disclosed that in 2006, the disease placed third and moved down to forth and fifth positions in 2007 and 2008 respectively.