ExxonMobil collaborates with others to support malaria prevention campaign

Two communities, Dawa and Osuwem in the Dangme area of the Greater Accra region, are to benefit from one thousand (1000) insecticide treated bed nets, (ITNs) as part of this year’s World Malaria Day celebration on April, 25.

ExxonMobil with support from the Episcopal Relief and Development’s NETSFORLIFE campaign is sponsoring the distribution of the nets.

A statement issued in Accra said the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), is partnering ExxonMobil to help in the distribution of the nets with the assistance of the Dangme West Health Centre on April, 21.

The nets have been presented to the Centre ahead of event and the Editorial Co-ordinator of AMMREN Ghana, Mr Carlton Cofie, commended ExxonMobil and NETSFORLIFE for their proactive role in promoting universal coverage of ITNs.

The statement said the HANG UP programme of NETSFORLIFE ensures that the ITNs, are installed safely and to prevent the practice of people receiving the nets and storing them up instead of using them to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes.

The Director of Health Services in the Dangwe West area, Dr Evelyn Ansah, said the choice of Dawa was based on Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) data showing that the community is the most deprived among those vulnerable to malaria.

She said the community will help with the hanging of the bed nets through volunteers to be trained by NETSFORLIFE in time for the big event.

In a message the Executive Director of NETSFORLIFE, Meg DeRonghe, said the programme has always championed the hanging of nets instead of just handing them to people who tend to lock them up in cupboards instead of hanging them to prevent mosquito bites.

Ms. DeRonghe said NETSFORLIFE, which is funded by a partnership that includes Standard Chartered Bank, and Coca-Cola and ExxonMobil, works through Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Organization, ADDRO to give true meaning to the concept of “universal coverage” being promoted by the United Nations to ensure that everyone can benefit from the protective value of sleeping under a net every night. AMMREN is a non-governmental organization with a membership of journalists and scientists in 10 African countries.

by Eunice Menka