Step up fight against malaria

Saturday, October 25, 2008 (The Mirror Pg 34)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Director of the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC),Dr Seth Owusu-Agyei, has called on the media to step up its advocacy role in the fight against malaria.
He noted that the media was central to packaging and tailoring important research findings and information needed for attitudinal change to address public health issues.
Dr Owusu-Agyei was speaking at the inauguration of the Ghana Chapter of the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), a group made up of African journalists and scientists working together to reduce malaria on the continent.
The occasion was also used to launch a magazine, ‘Eyes on Malaria’ produced by the group as an advocacy tool.
He said the use of insecticide-treated nets, indoor spraying and anti-malaria drugs were some of the tools available, and called on the public to take up the challenge of eradicating malaria within their communities by using the control tools available.
Dr Owusu-Agyei said the KHRC was among several research institutions across Africa researching into a malaria vaccine.
Dr Constance Bart-Plange, Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme, who launched the magazine, said malaria was an unnecessary hazard because it could be avoided if every one took pains to change attitude and lifestyles.
“The mosquito cannot create its own maternity homes but humans do it for them, then they turn around to destroy our maternity homes,” she said.
She said education was key to any change in behaviour and that was why the Ministry of Health was very serious about information, education and communication using multiple approaches and channels in the fight against malaria.
She commended the AMMREN for coming up with a well-written magazine, adding that the title ‘Eyes on Malaria’ was appropriate.
The Executive Secretary of AMMREN, Mrs Charity Binka, said the network was set up to become a leader in the provision of information for the prevention and control of malaria.
She said the group was formed in November 2006 in Accra with support from the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) of the Indepth Network.
AMMREN has about 50 members from 10 African countries.
‘Eyes on Malaria’, she said, was an attempt to find an innovative way of taking needed information about malaria from the laboratory, field and health institutions to those who need it most.
“The current missing link in malaria research and reporting is to have an advocacy lens that captures the breakthroughs in science and reported in the language of the household, the community and policy makers. ‘Eyes on Malaria’ will bridge this gap,” she said.
Mrs Binka said AMMREN received support from the Malaria Consortium and Indepth Network to produce the magazine.
Dr Bernhard Ogutu, a Kenyan researcher with the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA), said the production of the ‘Eyes on Malaria’ was a good way for the media to partner scientists in a global move towards the eradication of malaria.