The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has called for renewed commitment to the fight against malaria – to roll it back and save people from dying from the disease.
A more vigorous approach was required to battle the disease, caused by the mosquito bite.
She was speaking at an event held to mark this year’s World Malaria Day in Accra under the theme “How best to protect children and pregnant women from malaria infection”.
“My message is to call on every one of us in our individual capacities, to do whatever it takes to beat malaria for good.”
The programme was co-hosted by the ASPIRx, Infanta Foundation and Merck Global Health Institute and provided a platform to discuss the current malaria situation in Ghana and actions needed to deal with it.
It saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the First Lady on behalf of Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation with ASPIRx and Merck to deepen their collaboration to improve the health of Ghanaians.
The deal would enable the three entities to work together to provide protection for vulnerable populations against specific diseases including malaria.
Mrs Akufo-Addo said although the country had made significant progress in controlling malaria, there still remained more to do.
She was eager to see a situation “where every child and every woman, is adequately protected or able to test, treat and recover quickly from malaria”.
She reminded everybody about the need to sleep under the insecticide-treated bed net, to use mosquito repellent and to report to the health facility when they showed any symptoms of malaria, to get tested and treated.
“When we do these, we are ready to beat malaria.”
She expressed her excitement about the good job the Ghana Health Service and partners were doing to improve access to health care through the strengthening of Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS).
Mr Andrew Clocanas, Chairman of ASPIRx, said the MoU would help the parties to develop local capacities and technology transfer.
Dr Fritz Sacher, the representative of Merck, said the agreement, symbolized of Ghana’s determination to forge stronger partnerships with the private sector to speed up its progress.
–
Source: GNA