Teshie residents benefits from Coca-Cola bed nets

The Management and Staff of Coca-Cola Ghana on Saturday distributed and hanged 1,000 World Health Organisation’s approved long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets in homes of residents of Teshie, a suburb of Accra.

The distribution coincided with this year’s World Malaria Day celebrated on April 25 on the theme: “Sustain Gains, save lives: Invest in Malaria”.

The distribution and hanging of the treated nets were done in partnership with NetsforLife and the Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Organisation.

Mr Isaac Antwi, Public Affairs Director of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Ghana, said the exercise was done with voluntarism from members of staff who sees the eradication of the malaria disease as a collective responsibility.

He said experts believe that sleeping under the treated nets could reduce mosquito bites and reduce the incidence of malaria.

“Research shows that when three-quarters of the people in a community uses treated nets properly, malaria transmission is cut by 20 per cent and the mosquito population drops by 90 per cent,” he noted.

He said the partnership with NetsforLife has saved the lives of more than 100,000 children under the age of five, reducing the overall malaria-related death rate of 45 per cent in those communities where the programme was active.

He said currently, the company has supported the distribution of more than two million long lasting insecticide treated nets in communities across the country.

Madam Delai Awusi, Business Development Manager of NetsforLife, said the programme has been successful because of a holistic and integrated approach which was used, coupled with community education and monitoring work.

She said more than 8.7 million treated nets were distributed in 17 countries across Africa.

Dr Joseph Oliver-Commey, Acting Medical Director of Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly Hospital, commended Coca-Cola and its partners for the efforts to eradicate the malaria menace.

He said the distribution of the treated nets across the country was to ensure that every household sleeps under insecticide treated nets as part of measures to sustain gains under the National Malaria Preventive Programme.

Available statistics indicates that about 67 per cent of pregnant women had their unborn babies protected from malaria due to the use of intermittent preventive treatment.**