Malaria Prevalence Declines in Ghana Following Launch of Cuban, Ghanaian Project
Malaria prevalence decreased by 62.6% in Ghana's Accra metropolis region during a 10-month period following the implementation of a joint vector control project involving Cuban and Ghanaian partners, GNA/Modern Ghana News reports. The partners said that they estimate the country can achieve an 80% reduction in malaria cases in the next two years.
According to GNA/Modern Ghana News, Cuba's Biological and Pharmaceutical Laboratory Enterprise Group -- or LABIOFAM -- Ghana's Ministry of Health and other stakeholders implemented the project in March 2006 following the 13th and 14th Ghana-Cuba Joint Commission of Cooperation. During the commission, the partners signed a memorandum of understanding authorizing the use of biological agents to control malaria and to meet targets outlined in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. LABIOFAM and the health ministry began the first phase of the project, which covered the Accra metropolis region, in February 2008. According to GNA/Modern Ghana News, the second phase will cover four additional regions, and the third phase aims to provide coverage nationwide.
The project also aims to establish a factory to produce insecticides specifically targeted at mosquitoes in the larval stage. According to GNA/Modern Ghana News, in some areas the project achieved a 100% reduction in mosquito larvae fewer than 48 hours after administering the chemicals. The joint initiative also emphasizes the need for integrated vector control, larval control, environmental sanitation, and biological and entomological surveillance systems. In addition, the partners have called for the development of information and education programs, as well as collaboration between all levels of the public and private sector, to contribute to malaria control. Finally, the group also recommended incorporating the project into Ghana's National Malaria Control Program.
Felix Qunitanar Pulido, LABIOFAM representative for West Africa and coordinator of the malaria control project, said the Economic Commission of West African States plans to adopt Ghana's integrated malaria control project as part of its regional efforts to control the disease (GNA/Modern Ghana News, 4/2).
