Show more commitment to malaria control — Mrs Binka

By Rebecca Kwei The Executive Secretary of the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), Mrs Charity Binka, has called on African leaders to show more commitment to and support for the control of malaria, despite the achievements made so far. She said donor fatigue was now a reality and African governments must respond to the situation and commit more funds to help maintain the gains made against malaria and other tropical diseases. Mrs Binka made the call at a forum organised by AMMREN with support from the INDEPTH Network Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) as part of activities to mark this year’s World Malaria Day which fell on April 25. This year's World Malaria Day was held on the theme "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria”. Malaria caused an estimated 655,000 deaths worldwide and about 560,000 of the victims were children under five in 2010. In Ghana on the average, about 3,000,000 cases of malaria are reported in public health facilities annually. Mrs Binka said about 12 years ago, 40 African Heads of State made a declaration in Abuja, Nigeria to reduce the malaria burden on the continent by setting targets. However, she noted, many countries have missed the 2005 and 2010 targets and it was unlikely that the 2015 targets would be met unless conscious efforts were made to achieve universal coverage of essential malaria interventions. “Reduction of malaria deaths by a third over the last decade in Africa shows that investing in malaria does bring results. It has also shown that these gains are fragile and will be reversed unless malaria continues to be a priority for decision-makers and donors,” she said. For Ghana, she appealed to the government for more funds to scale up interventions like the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm) to make artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) as well as rapid diagnostic test (RDTs) accessible and affordable. Mrs Binka also appealed to the private sector and corporate organisations to support malaria by implementing life-saving interventions at their workplaces and communities; health workers should adhere to known interventions by making sure all malaria suspected cases are confirmed before treatment and for individuals to seek appropriate treatment, stop using monotherapies and sleep under insecticide-treated nets (ITNs). She further called on the media to promote discussions and debate on the malaria menace in national and international fora with the aim of influencing policies on malaria. The Head of Pharmacovigilance Unit, University of Ghana Medical School, Professor Alex Dodoo, said the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) new initiative known as T3 — Test, Treat and Track, which urges all malaria-endemic countries and donors to move towards universal access to diagnostic testing and antimalarial treatment, and to build robust malaria surveillance systems was a laudable strategy. Prof. Dodoo said INESS, which provides a platform to examine the real life safety and effectiveness of antimalarials in several African countries, was in the best position to give a reliable plan for understanding and expanding the rollout of the T3. For his part, the Technical Coordinator of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), Mr Kwame Robert Agyarko, said out of the 45 African nations that have the malaria burden, 28 have removed tariffs on anti-malarial medicines; 23 have removed tariffs on Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDTs) kits; and 19 have removed tariffs on Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs). Sixteen have also removed tariffs on In-door Residual Spray (IRS) pumps while 12 have removed tariffs on insecticides for IRS. To avert the threat of drug resistance, the Malaria Focal Person at the Police Hospital, Ms Ellen Sam, called for concerted efforts to stop the sale of fake and substandard malaria drugs and use of single drug treatments. The Communications and External Relations Manager of INDEPTH, Jeannette Quarcoopome, who chaired the function, expressed the hope that when the Broadcast Bill was passed it would make provision for media houses to allocate a certain percentage of space and airtime to health and social issues. At the forum, eight journalists who had consistently written stories on malaria for their media houses and the AMMREN magazine, Eyes on malaria, were rewarded.