The Vector Control Unit of Zoomlion Ghana Limited and the Ministry of Health have rolled out a new monitoring and evaluation system for the National Malaria Control Programme geared towards achieving greater impact for the programme.

The new system was introduced at a training organised in Takoradi for stakeholders executing the National Malaria Control Programme

The monitoring systems which will help measure the quality of the work done by the use of sentinel surveillance of both the larvae and adult mosquitoes will track the progress of how larval source management is reducing the mosquito population.

Mr Ferguson Duvor, a Data Manager with the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) who led the session on “Monitoring and Evaluation of Larval Source Management” explained to participants that 10 permanent larval breeding sites will be used as sentinel sites for larval surveillance in all selected districts.

He said data from these sites will be collected on a monthly basis to give an idea on how larval source management is reducing the density of mosquito larvae in water bodies. For adult mosquitoes “CDC light traps will be set in 10 houses in selected districts for adult mosquito surveillance. Samples of the adult mosquitoes will be collected monthly and data from these sites will give an indication of how larval source management is reducing the density of adult mosquitoes, as a proxy of malaria transmission,” Mr Duvor pointed out.

The Western Regional Environmental Health Director, Mr John Yaw Donkor who took part in the training session in an interview lauded the initiative as a step in the right direction to impact modern knowledge on larval source management and also spell out verifiable indicators for measuring the impact of the program.

He said an environmental management approach is very key in reducing mosquito population hence the need for the public to keep their environment clean to avoid favourable breeding sites for mosquitoes.

A Senior Vector Control officer of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mr Enoch Mintah touted the exercise as productive and will help enhance the technical knowledge of stakeholders executing the mosquito control program in the various communities.

He said participants of the training program were districts and municipal environmental health officers, malaria focal persons, district managers and spraying team leaders of Zoomlion in the Western Region.