AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) Obuasi Mine, in partnership with AGAMal, AGA Health, Quantum L.C Limited, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation, Underground Mining Alliance, Obuasi East Municipal and Ghana Health Service has organised a grand durbar and mini clinic to mark World Malaria Day.
The event was under the theme: “Malaria Ends with Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite”.
World Malaria Day (WMD) is an international observance commemorated every year on April 25 and recognises global efforts to control malaria.
Speaking at the Durbar last Friday at the Black Park, Mr. Edmund Oduro Agyei, Community Relations Manager, AGA, disclosed that the Malaria Control Programme initiated by his outfit in 2005 was making headway in its “core mandate”, explaining that households in the Obuasi enclave are being sprayed periodically to prevent the spread of malaria.
The decision is based on AGA’s Socio-Economic Plan, which outlines interventions to better healthcare in the Obuasi enclave. Mr. Agyei urged the community to heed the advice of health professionals, as well as take preventive measures to curtail the spread of malaria.
In a Keynote address, Mrs. Charity Afrifaa-Adjei, Director, Obuasi East Health Directorate disclosed that malaria is a “very dangerous” disease, adding that the “smallest bite” from a mosquito can have an enormous effect on one’s health.
The Health Director further disclosed that pregnant women and children are the “most vulnerable” in contracting malaria, leading to miscarriages, kidney failures and convulsions, among others.
Touching on the theme, the Director disclosed that interventions such as Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), initiated by AGA, has helped in the reduction of malaria cases in the enclave and urged the community to Reinvest, Reimagine and Reignite the strength, effort, passion and commitment in the fight to eradicate malaria.
Mrs. Afrifaa-Adjei further noted that malaria was preventable and curable, urging members of the community to always go for a check-up, to determine if they have contracted malaria before taking drugs.
Mrs. Charity Afrifaa-Adjei urged chiefs and the community to always embrace malaria intervention programmes.
Mr. Ignatius Williams, Head, Monitoring and Evaluation, AGAMaL, disclosed that the goal of his outfit was to “drive malaria down and move towards its elimination”, for which the one percent malaria prevalence in the Obuasi East Municipality would be brought down to zero by 2030.
According to Mr. Williams, prior to the inception of his outfit, approximately 8,000 workers of AGA were affected by malaria, which had a huge impact on productivity, adding that there has been a reduction of 74 percent over the course of three years.
Mr. Williams indicated that AGAMaL has initiated an 11-week operation of IRS which impact could not be underestimated, noting that 500 “new class” insecticides (no odour, colourless and stainless) have been deployed.
He also disclosed that the IRS programme had been scaled up to other parts (16 districts) of the country, with the support of Global Fund through the instrumentality of Ghana Health Service, costing US$7 million each year, from 2024 to 2026.
The districts with three in the Upper East, two in the Obuasi enclave and the remainder in Upper West, he said, were selected by using the highest impact tool to highest burden area, with the help of National Strategy.
Mr. Williams further indicated that AGAMaL had other interventions such as Larval Source Management (LSM) and Social and Behaviour Change to tackle malaria.
He said these interventions treat water bodies with biological insecticide with the aim of reducing vectors in its infant stage and also educate people on malaria and entreated all to come on board to fight Malaria.
From Oswald Pius Freiku, Obuasi
