Spray houses in Wa Municipality against mosquitoes -Traditional healer
Dr. Mahama Topie, Chairman of the Upper West Regional Branch of the Ghana National Association of Traditional Healers has appealed to government to spray houses in Wa Municipality and its environs against mosquitoes.
He said such an intervention would help reduce the incidence of malaria among children.
Dr. Topie in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday said, despite the efforts at controlling the disease over the years, there appeared to be an increase in the incidence of reported cases of malaria in the rural communities resulting in the deaths of many children.
He said the increase in the deaths of children due to severe malaria might come as a result of many parents lackadaisical attitude of sending their children to health facilities.
Dr. Topie noted that even though malaria was considered as one of the top childhood killer diseases, some parents still see it as a common disease and were not patronising health facilities to access treatment when their children were sick.
He warned members of the association not to harbour or entertain any patient, especially children, who were suspected to be suffering from illness such as malaria and other infectious diseases.
Rather, they should first advise parents to seek medical treatment before they could also accept providing them with their medication.
Dr. Topie said it has come to the notice of the association that convulsion among children was on the increase, some resulting in deaths, especially those in the rural areas and called for the formation of a medical brigade mobile clinic service in the region to reach out to children to treat their diseases, especially during this rainy season.
The Regional Chairman called on its members to embark on medicinal trees planting in their communities to help sustain their operations and also help in the government’s afforestation efforts.
Many of the medicinal trees in the region were becoming extinct due to excessive harvest without re-planting and efforts must be made by members to plant such trees to sustain their activities, Dr. Topie advised.
He advised members to endeavour to prepare their herbal medicine in hygienic conditions and in accordance with the specifications, to qualify them for government approval and support.
“Our preparations should not be seen as death for sale, for our patients. That should be avoided at all cost,” Dr. Topie warned.
Source: GNA