NGOs, businesses, health officials should collaborate on malaria control efforts, Ghanaian health official says

Nongovernmental organizations, businesses and health officials should collaborate to fight malaria in Ghana, Anthony Ofori, coordinator of Ghana's Malaria Control Program for the Brong Ahafo region, said recently at a one-day workshop for NGOs and other stakeholders in Fiapre, Ghana, the Ghanaian Times reports.

According to Ofori, increased collaboration will help improve malaria education and control efforts at the regional, district and community levels. Ofori said that about 45% of deaths recorded last year among children in Ghana were attributed to malaria, adding that the situation could threaten the nation's future development.

Emmanuel Tinkorang, deputy regional director of public health, said that health officials in the Brong Ahafo region aim to eliminate malaria from the region by the end of the year. "Malaria is everywhere in the country, and there is the need for every individual to contribute his or her quote in its prevention," Tinkorang said. Tinkorang called on the public to practice good hygiene and sleep under insecticide-treated nets to help control malaria. Aaron Offei, regional director of Ghana Health Service, called on participants to provide information on malaria to prevent the spread of the disease. Participants at the workshop also called for increased funding and advocacy to implement malaria control programs, the Times reports (Ghanaian Times, 3/23).