Accra, July 6, GNA - Ghana's obstetrics, gynaecologists and pharmacists in Accra on Thursday identified Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) as the panacea to stop the high rate of malaria infections among pregnant women.

The specialists from Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital; Police Hospital; Ridge Hospital; La General Hospital; Trust Hospital; Lister Fertility Hospital and VRA Hospital were unanimous that malaria was one of the causes of infant and maternal mortality in the country hence the need to reverse the trend.

Dr Emmanuel Srefonyo, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Specialist at Ridge Hospital, said IPT could be used in addition to Sulphonamide - Pyremethamine (SP), also known as Fansider, for better compliance. He explained that IPT, the administration of full therapeutic course of anti-malaria to a risk subject at specified time intervals regardless of whether or not they are infected, produced protection by cure for only a short period of time when drug concentrations were below the level necessary for parasite growth.

"IPT of malaria during pregnancy is based on assumption that every pregnant woman living in areas of high malaria transmission has malaria parasites in the blood and the placenta whether or not she has malaria." The meeting organized by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals was to reiterate the importance of malaria in pregnancy and advantages of IPT using Sulphonamide- Pyremethamine (SP) and the options of SPs available for healthcare practitioners to use.

It also gave participants the opportunity to interact with professionals in specialized areas of healthcare.

Dr Srefonyo said pregnant women were prone to more severe and fatal forms of the disease and advised doctors to administer IPT to all symptomatic pregnant women, who reported for antenatal care in the second and third trimesters, more especially, those of low gravidity, those infected with HIV, adolescents, youth and sickle cell disease patients.

Dr Ali Samba, Consultant Gynaecologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said controlling malaria during pregnancy was crucial because it accounted for 9.8 per cent of deaths in pregnant women. He said malaria during pregnancy in malaria-endemic areas accounted for 2.15 per cent of maternal anaemia; 5.14 per cent of low birth weight of newly born babies and 3.5 per cent of infant mortality. Dr Samba said body heat and expired carbon dioxide attracted mosquitoes, adding that hyperventilates among pregnant women made them prone to attacks.

He stressed the need for pregnant women to focus on antenatal health care, malaria case management and early treatment of infections. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one death was recorded in every 30 seconds worldwide showing the seriousness of the disease.

"The Abuja targets by 2005 also set reduction by 60 per cent of pregnant women on appropriate chemoprophylaxis and reduction by 60 per cent of children under than five years old with fever will have prompt access to care".

Malaria illness cost the country an estimated 21.965 billion cedis translating into 112,832 cedis per household annually.

This figure is equivalent to 9.74 per cent of per capita government expenditure on health and an average cost per case to the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service is estimated at 24,571.53 cedis. The WHO attributes the high increase in malaria cases and non-use of the interventions put in place to the low attendance of antenatal care, unavailability of supplies, the emergence of chloroquine resistance and poor patient compliance.