Just days before World Malaria Day, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) launched its 2013-2015 Malaria Control Strategy and Action Plan at an exciting event at Koforidua in Eastern Ghana. The company aims to reduce its malaria-related absenteeism rate of 25% among its 7,000 workers.
Ghana Football Association (GFA) president and Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee member Kwesi Nyantakyi has championed the United Against Malaria (UAM) campaign since its inception in 2009, bringing visibility to a deadly disease that is responsible for 22 percent of deaths in children under the age of five in Ghana. During the qualifying games of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Ghana Black Stars, played Mali in a match dedicated to the fight against malaria, with oversized mosquito nets hanging in the stadium and UAM messaging on the field.
The National Malaria Control Program in Ghana has welcomed the efforts of Voices for a Malaria-Free Future to identify promising private sector malaria control practices and share them to increase other malaria control programs within the private sector. One such company, Chirano Gold Mines, has reduced its malaria case load by 77% in four years, with a new commitment of $5.6 million to malaria control efforts that will protect communities in two districts through 2016.
During this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, the continent’s premier soccer championship, some of Africa’s most popular players are lending their voices to further the fight against this disease. Several of the continent’s stars will share life-saving malaria prevention and treatment messages through United Against Malaria soccer-themed television public service announcements (PSAs) that will air in malaria-endemic countries in Africa throughout the tournament.
The United Against Malaria (UAM) Partnership in Ghana being led by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Program Voices for a Malaria-free Future project, the National Malaria Control Program and the Ghana Football Association held a special media event in Accra as a prelude to Ghana’s attempt to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2012 tournament currently taking place in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. In the photo to the right we see Ghana’s NMCP Manager launching the UAM Malaria-Safe Playbook.
