Damang (W/R)-Ghana, April 27, GNA – Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) has distributed hundreds of mosquito repellent to residents of Damang in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality to support in the eradication of malaria.
Last year, the Foundation distributed thirty boxes of mosquito repellent to pregnant and lactating women in their host communities.
The move was to encourage the use of mosquito repellants to complement Ghana Health Service’s (GHS) initiative of giving out Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) to pregnant women during their antenatal period.
Mrs Rahmat Yarig, Community Relations Officer, GFGL, Damang Mine, said this when the GFGF and GHS Unit of the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipal Assembly organized a durbar to commemorate this year’s World Malaria Day with school children and residents of Damang.
“Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement”, was the theme for this year’s celebration.
GFGL over the past years observed the World Malaria Day which falls on April 25, with its host communities to contribute to the global movement to reduce the prevalence of malaria in society.
The day serves as a global platform to raise awareness of the deadly malaria disease and educate people on simple and effective ways to prevent it, she stated.
According to Mrs Yarig, the Sustainable Development Goal three (SDG 3), which is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages, include reducing epidemics such as malaria and other diseases.
She said Gold Fields Ghana has established the GFGF to promote and facilitate sustainable socio-economic development to improve the quality of life in its catchment communities and in Ghana as a whole.
The Community Relations Officer announced that these projects and programmes fell under the broad sectors of infrastructure, education, health, training, and agriculture, adding that, to date, the Foundation has invested over US$70,000 in health projects and programmes.
She mentioned the adolescent sexual reproductive health and development programme, rehabilitation of Huni-Valley health centre, construction of Damang health centre, construction and equipping of Bompieso clinic and the annual health outreach programme carried out in its host communities as some of the support.
Miss Anna Tommy, Municipal Public Health Nurse for Prestea Huni-Valley Health Directorate, said research has proved that every minute a child under five years died from malaria.
She indicated that, “A total of 40,422 malaria cases were confirmed in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality in 2022, out of which 129 were severe. For children under five, we recorded 9,760 cases. ”
Miss Tommy expressed gratitude to the GFGF for the numerous assistances and appealed to other corporate entities to support in the fight against malaria.
Nana Ama Saarah I, Queen mother of Subri Divisional Area, advised the people to sleep under ITNs and ensure they test to confirm malaria before taking any approved malaria medication.
