Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), Tarkwa Mine, on Friday distributed 300 long lasting insecticide treated bed nets to pregnant women and children under 5 years in Huniso and its surrounding communities in the Prestea Huni/Valley District.
The donation forms part of the activities organized by the mining firm to celebrate World Malaria Day.
The theme for this year’s celebration was “Invest in the future: Defeat malaria”.
In a welcome address, the Sustainable Development Manager at Goldfields Ghana Limited, Mr. Robert Siaw observed that, although malaria can be prevented and treated, nearly a million people die annually from this disease with more than 90 percent recorded in Africa.
He said those who are most at risk are children less than 5-years-old, pregnant women and those in remote regions with little access to prevention and treatment.
Mr. Siaw said the nation could rid the mosquitoes that transmit the parasite by keeping their environment clean and also destroy its breeding grounds.
The Sustainable Development Manager at Goldfields Ghana Limited challenged Ghanaians to change their attitudes and behaviors towards environmental cleanliness to help reduce the incidence of malaria in their communities.
The staff nurse in charge of Huniso Clinic, Mrs. Agnes Ackah, advised the people to sleep under the bed nets to protect themselves from mosquitoes.