Hohoe (VR); The lack of adequate information about the impact of malaria on the Ghanaian economy is stalling the implementation of realistic measures that will deal with the virulent disease that kills thousands each year, Mr. Emmanuel Fiagbey, Country Director of Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Centre for Communication Programs has observed. He said although the disease is a persistent national problem, it has over the years been “underrated” by policy makers, making Ghana a home for the continuing breeding of mosquitoes that send many to their graves each year. “Malaria is a great threat to our survival as a nation, yet it remains an enemy that is underrated, in view of the fact that support received by malaria control programs has never been adequate”. Addressing a special session of the Hohoe Municipal Assembly (HMA) here on Tuesday, Mr. Fiagbey appealed to local government authorities to spell out malaria prevention as a key component of their development agenda, particularly its impact on the economy. He said the failure to appreciate the brunt of malaria treatment cost and the lost of working days on the national economy has unwittingly spawned a culture of silence and the lack of determined grassroots action to curb it. “Silence is strengthening the impact of malaria in Ghana and what has partly accounted for this situation is the inadequacy of information about the disease among policy makers”. The disease accounts for 33.6 per cent of childhood deaths in Ghana, according World Health Organization report. Similarly, statistics at the Hohoe Municipal Health Directorate indicate that 86 children died of malaria in the municipality between January and June 2009, a situation the JHU Director said must serve as a pivot for the assembly to turn it around. Mr. Fiagbey was of the opinion that policy makers and opinion leaders such as assembly members must increase their stakeholder base and broaden the level of participation of communities for them to appreciate severity of the disease on the people. Though the malady is a major social issue affecting all citizens, nonetheless, its brunt is mostly borne by the underprivileged, owing to their lack of resources to seek prompt attention and dying as a result. The Hohoe Municipal Assembly’s special session, therefore, was to dilate on the ramifications of the disease on the house’s development agenda and how to employ its structures to instigate changes that will abate the nuisance. Mr. Fiagbey cautioned that failure to curb further transmissions using the approved prevention and treatment methods will allow the vector to mutate, a situation that might create newer strains that will be difficult to contain. Such a scenario, he pointed out, will affect the implementation of poverty alleviation programs, as existing resources will will have to be diverted to meet recurrent malaria costs. Besides, the meager resources of the poor will be further stretched, as families struggle to restore ailing members to wellness or redirect funds for funerals in the case of deaths. Currently, 20, 000 children under the ages of five die of malaria every year in Ghana, while the disease also accounts for nearly 10 per cent of deaths in pregnant women. Mr. Fiagbey said dealing with the problem of dissemination of appropriate malaria information among policy makers was crucial as wrong programs were being promoted to deal with the situation. A case in instance, he illustrated, was the assumption that clearing choked gutters alone will reduce the breeding of mosquito vectors, especially of the anopheles gambiae and arabiensis species that typically transmit malaria infections in the country when the paddy fields and other pools of water around the communities are the true home of the vector. The mosquito type causing malaria infections in Ghana, he reiterated, breeds in relatively clean water that have minimum sunshine and therefore cleaning of gutters alone will not lead to significant reductions in infections, although it is a good environmental decision that contributes to the reduction of many other water-borne diseases. He said the “most efficacious, cheapest and safest measure” in controlling malaria was the use of insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs). The Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Victor Condobrey, accepted the challenge and vowed to work with departmental heads in promoting the ideas being championed by the National Malaria Control Program and the Voices for Malaria-free Future project. He donated 500 Ghana cedis and 100 treated nets as part of the Municipal Assembly’s effort in initiating an advocacy action to contain the situation. The pledge was besides the statutory 0.5 per cent of the HMA’s share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) that the house was to make in support of malaria initiatives in the district. Mr. Condobrey said the assembly was willing to work beyond one per cent target so as to bring respite to the people in line with the better Ghana agenda promised by the Mills’ administration of which controlling malaria is a key component. Dr Michael Ahedor, the Municipal Health Director, said malaria control should not been seen as a responsibility of health workers alone, but a concerted national aspiration that requires the contribution of every citizen. Madam Edith Akpoto, the Presiding Member of the HMA, was unmistakable about the need for district assemblies to work towards malaria-free communities which will then usher in a malaria-free Ghana. The occasion was also used to inaugurate the district advocacy team under the chairmanship of the Togbega Gabusu, Paramount Chief of the Gbi Traditional area. Source: Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communication Programs, Accra.