UK assists Ghana to fight malaria

Accra, Nov. 24, GNA - Dr Ben Kunbuor, Minister of Health on Wednesday said Government and other stakeholders would tackle malaria through a preventive care rather than curative approach to reduce the burden of the disease on the economy.

This he said could help in building a healthy population at lesser cost and noted that almost one-third of the national health budget went into fighting malaria, which was still a major health problem. Dr Kunbuor therefore called on all and sundry not to overlook the small interventions such as the use of treated nets that could contribute significantly to reduce the incidence of the disease. He announced this at a press briefing on the 10 million pounds sterling package from the United Kingdom through UKaid, an affiliate of the Department for International Development, to Ghana to support the fight against malaria. The amount would be used for the procurement and distribution of long-lasting insecticide treated bed-nets through UNICEF. Dr Kunbuor said the average Ghanaian had two or three bouts of malaria annually and the admission rate was very high in endemic areas. Mr Stephen O'Brien, Under-Secretary of State for International Development during a visit to some communities in Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region on Tuesday, November 23, called for accountability and transparency in the disbursement of the fund.

He said malaria had been identified as the leading cause of ailments and deaths for children under five in Ghana and accounting for 22 per cent of under five mortalities in 2007.

"This commitment underlines the UK support for the efforts being made by the Ghana Government to purge the country of malaria," he said adding "restricting the spread of malaria is a key priority for the UK Government". Mr O'Brien pointed out that the support would protect almost five million Ghanaians from malaria including nearly one million children under five.

He said UKaid currently provided eight million pounds sterling annually as sector budget support from 2008 to 2012 to support the Ministry of Health. 24 Nov. 10