Some health workers of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Environmental Health and Zoomlion Ghana Limited NAMCOP unit staff in the Volta and Oti Regions have benefitted from the ongoing national Larval Source Management (LSM) training, aimed at complementing government’s efforts to reduce the spread of malaria in the country.
The one-day training programme was held on Monday 17th May, 2021 in the Volta regional capital, Ho, and brought together about 110 participants from the two regions.
It was organised by Zoomlion Ghana Limited and its partners of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) from the Ghana Health Service, with experts drawn from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL).
The Regional Environmental Health Officer, Volta Region, Mrs. Stella Kumedzro – speaking to journalists after the programme, said the LSM training will enhance the capacity of participants in the fight against malaria.
She said this is crucial in the light of rising malaria cases which continue to overwhelm the Out Patient Departments (OPD) of hospitals and clinics.
“Compared to the previous training, this one is unique and more practical and useful,” she added.
“There is no reason for panic. We just want to ensure that malaria cases are reduced in our communities, districts, municipalities, regions and Ghana as a whole; hence this training,” she said.
Against this background, Mrs. Kumedzro called on Ghanaians to support the exercise, which will be done in the various communities “so that we can fight malaria. We are pleading with community members to facilitate a cordial relationship,” she urged.
The Deputy Regional Director of Health Services in charge of Public Health (DDPH), Volta Region, Dr. Kwesi Djokoto, recounted that this intervention was initiated two years ago.
According to him, LSM as a malaria control measure looks at the environment and deals with the vector, which is the mosquito, that transmits the disease.
He said to effectively fight the disease, six (6) districts where malaria cases are high in the Volta Region – namely Keta, Anloga, Central Tongu, Hohoe West, South Tongu and another have been selected.
“After mapping, we will spray to fight against development of the larvae to eliminate mosquitoes,” he said.
Malaria, he contended, remains one of the diseases that continues to have socio-economic implications for the country.
This has seen government spend so much in managing the disease, he noted.
Dr. Djokoto said the LSM training is very necessary, as it will complement other malaria control interventions.
For his part, the Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Ho, Volta Region, Dr. Aaron Kofi Amedzo, said the training will offer participants the requisite LSM skills and techniques.
“This training comes as a refresher and also as an orientation to facilitate our job,” he said.
In this regard, he appealed for the organisers to include local dialects in the training to help those who are not too good in the English language.
This, Dr. Amedzo indicated, will enable them to explain more thoroughly the essence of LSM for fighting malaria in the communities.
The General Manager of Zoomlion, Volta Region, Mr. Solomon Denyo, expressed satisfaction with the programme, and thus recommended that the training be organised regularly to equip health workers with more knowledge in fighting mosquitoes.
“We need to update our knowledge on their [mosquitoes] movement and how they act and react to their environment,” he averred.
He used the opportunity to call on Ghanaians to ensure that their environs are clean, stating: “This is one essential ingredient to prevent malaria”.
