Mass administration of anti-malaria drug to children begins

The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has launched the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) intervention at Tolon to help fight the prevalence of malaria in the country.

The SMC intervention is to reduce malaria burden in children aged three to 59 months old, by providing additional protection to them during the peak of malaria transmission season.

As part of the launch, the NMCP and the GHS on Monday began the week-long mass administration of the SMC anti-malaria drug to children in the Northern Region to protect them against malaria.

A total of 68,983 children between the ages of three months to 59 months are expected to receive the new SMC drug during the period (July 22, to July 28), and the NMCP and the GHS dispatched personnel to visit houses to administer the drug to the children.

Dr Keziah Malm, Programme Manager, NMCP, during the launch on Monday, said the NMCP and the GHS were poised to scale up the proven intervention of the SMC nationally to ensure that all persons lived in a malaria-free environment.

Dr Malm said the SMC intervention including Malaria Case Management, Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN), and Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) had helped to reduce the prevalence of malaria in children under five years from 27 per cent in 2011 to 21 per cent in 2016.

She said in the Northern Region, the malaria parasite prevalence reduced from 48 per cent in 2011 to 25 per cent in 2016, while malaria deaths reduced from 2,799 in 2012 to 428 in 2018, representing 85 per cent over the period, meeting the National Malaria Strategic Plan of 75 per cent reduction by 2020.

Dr John Bertson Eleeza, Northern Regional Director of GHS, said the SMC intervention held the prospect of preventing five million episodes of malaria annually, 20,000 child deaths as well as preventing up to 85 per cent of all episodes of unsophisticated and severe malaria cases in the country.

Dr Eleeza reiterated that the SMC intervention was effective in treatment and cost, urging stakeholders to embrace it to sustain the fight against malaria in the country.

Mr Salifu Saeed, Northern Regional Minister, said “it is refreshing to note that the SMC intervention has been added as a new intervention to benefit mainly children, who are more vulnerable to malaria” urging all to embrace the exercise.