NATIONWIDE MOSQUITO SPRAYING EXERCISE LAUNCHED (PAGE 47)

A NATIONWIDE mosquito spraying exercise to get rid of the insect and reduce malaria infection has been launched in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital.
The exercise, which is to be carried out by Zoomlion, a private waste disposal company, involve 5,000 sprayers equipped to spray homes, gutters and other public places.
Two hundred motorcycles have also been provided for the sprayers to enable them to reach out to communities, while arrangements are being made for aerial spraying of stagnant waterbodies and other mosquito-infested areas that are inaccessible.
Apart from the spraying exercise, pregnant women and newly delivered women would be given insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
The exercise is being funded by the government with support from the Cuban government and other organisations.
The impressive launching ceremony was attended by dignitaries such as the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; his deputy, Mr Baba Jamal; other ministers of state, all the 21 municipal and district chief executives in the region, the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, and other traditional leaders.
Launching it, the Minister of Health, Dr George Yankey, said the exercise, the first of its kind in the country, would cover every potential mosquito-breeding space.
He spoke about plans to collaborate with neighbouring countries like Togo and Cote d‘Ivoire for them to undertake a similar exercise to ensure that mosquitoes did not “migrate” from those countries into Ghana or vice versa.
Giving the rationale behind the exercise, Dr Yankey said mosquito bites accounted for malarial cases at the hospitals and that about 25 per cent of all cases and deaths was attributed to malaria.
He said in all, $760 million was spent annually on malaria in the country and that a time had come for all to come together to eliminate mosquitoes to reduce the prevalence of malaria.
He expressed appreciation to the Cuban government and organisations such as Ashanti Gold, for helping to control malaria in the country.
The Co-ordinator of the National Youth Employment Programme, Mr Abuga Pele, said so far 20,000 youth had been engaged for waste disposal in the country, indicating that their activities were helping to eradicate mosquitoes and reduce malaria in the communities.
The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, gave the assurance that his ministry would collaborate with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders in the fight against mosquitoes.
For his part, a representative of the Cuban Embassy in Accra, Mr Nelson Page’s Vila, said since 2004, Cuba had been assisting Ghana to get rid of mosquitoes.
He said the two countries had over the years co-operated in many areas such as health, agriculture and sports.
The Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, who chaired the function, called for attitudinal change to clean the environment to ensure the eradication of mosquitoes.
Earlier in a welcoming address, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the region recorded approximately 700,000 cases of malaria in 2007, out of which about 224 persons died.
He, therefore, called on inhabitants of the region to help in the crusade against mosquitoes.