Over two million people benefit from Malaria Control Programme

Over two million people benefitted from the AngloGold Ashanti Malaria Control Programme between April and July last year in communities in 25 districts in the country.

Mr Sylvester Sagbaya, Director of the Programme, who announced this, said the programme hoped to increase its coverage to 40 districts by the end of this year.

‘We recognize the need to share our experience and expertise for the greater good of the country by scaling up to 40 districts by 2015.”

Giving update of the programme in connection with the celebration of this year’s World Malaria Day in an encounter with the media at Obuasi, Mr Sagbaya intimated that the indoor residual spraying (IRS) initiated by AngloGold Ashanti contributed significantly to the success story of the malaria control programme.

He was optimistic that with the IRS plus other interventions, incidence of malaria cases could be eradicated in the country.

Mr Sagbaya commended management of the AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine towards the success of the programme, and noted that the company after investing over $13 million in the programme was currently spending one million dollars every year.

He said the over two million people who had benefited from the programme were within 1,474,900 structures in the 25 districts in six regions in the country, with the regions being Ashanti, Central, Western, Northern, Upper East and Upper West.

Mr. Sagbaya was happy that the Malaria Control Programme had saved many lives since it was started at Obuasi in 2006.

He announced the support of $133 million from the Global Fund in 2011, which helped the programme to extend its coverage, and said efforts were being made to attract additional fund to continue with the spraying in the Northern Regions.

Mr Sagbaya encouraged households to drain water from their flower pots, as a way of getting rid of mosquitoes.

Source: GNA