Sapelliga (U/E), July 19, GNA - Chiefs, religious leaders and other key opinion leaders at Sapelliga were trained on malaria prevention and control as part of efforts to get community leadership involved in reducing malaria infections in the area.

The Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Organization (ADDRO), a charitable organization working in collaboration with the Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) with funds from the American President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) or Malaria Communities Programme (MCP) held the workshop as part of activities to reduce malaria in the area.

Under the programme ADDRO is expected to ensure that there is drastic reduction of the malaria disease in the area through the distribution of Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINS) which is a core aspect of the programme.

In addition to the distribution of the nets that targets children under five years and pregnant women, the organization has an obligation to train about 1,000 volunteers in two districts; the Bawku West and the Garu-Tempane that are the project areas within three years.

Facilitating the workshop, the Bawku West District Officer in charge of the PMI/MCP, Mr. Ebenezer Ndebilla, told the participants that they had the most important role to play in ensuring that the project was successful because they wield influence in their communities.

He said net use was the most effective and affordable way of preventing mosquito bites and malaria in general, adding that as opinion leaders it was their responsibility to encourage their people to use the nets.

Mr. Ndebilla said ADDRO had already distributed LLINS to beneficiaries in the Sapelliga and the Zongoire sub-districts.

He appealed to the participants to cooperate with the volunteers as they visited them in their homes to hang the nets.

At the end of the workshop some of the participants expressed joy for the opportunity given them to participate in the workshop and said they had realized that they did more non-essential spending especially on alcohol at the expense of their health and those of their families.