Mr. Samuel Yao Atidzah, Executive Director of GOSANET Foundation, has appealed to the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) to translate its video on malaria into the local languages to bridge the language barrier.
He also called on the Programme to help provide Community Based Advocates (CBAs) with working tools like raincoats, wellington boots and torch lights to aid them during the rainy season.
Mr. Atidzah made the appeal through the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Adaklu Tsriefe in the Adaklu district on the sidelines of a review meeting organized by the Foundation.
The meeting, which was on Community Level Malaria Social Behaviour Change Communication activities, was attended by CBAs, traditional, opinion and religious leaders and sponsored by the Global Fund through the NMEP.
Mr. Atidzah said his organization was working hard to increase the knowledge of malaria prevention strategies among pregnant women and mothers of children below five years of age in the Adaklu district.
He continued that they were also equipping CBAs with basic malaria prevention and intervention concepts and tools needed to undertake the malaria follow-ups on pregnant women.
The Executive Director said the goal of the Foundation was to increase awareness and knowledge of the entire population of Adaklu district on malaria prevention and control so as to improve the correct use and intake of interventions by 2025.
He said it was also to protect at least 80 percent of the population in the district with effective malaria interventions by the same year.
“We are working hard to provide appropriate diagnosis to all suspected malaria cases in accordance to treatment guidelines,” he said.
Mr. Atidzah disclosed that using 2020 as baseline, they hoped to reduce malaria morbidity by 75 percent by the year 2025.
He lamented that some pregnant women were still taking herbal concoctions, which they said worked for them or their relatives during their pregnancy.
Mr. Atidzah said some of them were not seeking proper medical care, saying they thought “they are very experienced.”
He urged them to refrain from taking herbal concoctions as it could have adverse effect on the unborn baby and also encouraged them to seek proper medical care to avoid complications during delivery.