UK SUPPORTS MALARIA ERADICATION WITH 10m POUNDS (BACK PAGE, NOV 24, 2010)

THE United Kingdom (UK) Government has extended a £10-million assistance package towards Ghana’s malarial eradication programme.
The fund is expected to be used for the procurement and distribution of over two million long -lasting insecticide treated bed-nets.
The fund, to be channelled through the UNICEF, is aimed at assisting the country to reach its goal of reducing the burden of malarial prevention and treatment by 75 per cent by 2015.
According to the UK Government’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Mr Stephen O’brien, the distribution of the nets will be carried out during the Universal Access to Bed-nets campaigns scheduled for April, next year.
The under-secretary announced this at Gbugli in the Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region yesterday.
The junior minister, who is also a Member of the British Parliament, explained that “through this funding, an estimated 4.7 million people, of which 940, 000 were expected to be children under five years, would have access to the treated bed-nets.
He indicated that UKaid currently provided £8m annually as sector budget support over a five-year period (2008-2012) in support of the Ministry of Health (MoH) programme of work.
The UKaid further provided about £10m for the procurement of emergency obstetric equipment in support of the country’s free maternal healthcare policy, which was implemented in 2008.
“In 2006 and 2007, DFID provided a total of £8.7m through UNICEF to procure and distribute treated bed-nets to children under two and pregnant women,” the minister indicated.
Mr O’brien observed that malaria had been identified as the leading cause of illness and deaths of children under five years in Ghana.
The disease also accounted for 22 per cent of under-five deaths and nine per cent of maternal deaths in 2007.
The MoH estimates that out of three million cases of suspected malaria reported each year in public health facilities, over 900, 000 affected children under the age of five.
Mr O’brien earlier visited some UK-supported projects in the district, including School for Life and some private initiated programmes, such as the Taimako Plant Centre at Savelugu.
He also paid a courtesy call on the Kumbungu-Naa Yiri Iddrisu Abu, where he expressed the commitment of his government to helping to address some of the challenges in developing countries.