Nkoranza (B/A), Sept. 01 GNA - Mr. Richard Kwasi Hinneh, Nkoranza District Director of Health Services has emphasized that malaria is an enormous global health threat that needed attention in curbing the disease.

Mr. Hinneh was a ddressing about 120 health workers in the district at a three-day training workshop on the management of malaria and its intermittent preventive treatment among pregnant women at the various health facilities at Nkoranza.

He explained that pregnancy worsened malaria because of reduction in immunity and therefore posed substantial risk to the expectant mother and the unborn baby.

Mr. Hinneh advised pregnant women to attach great importance in attending antenatal clinics so as to receive the necessary preventive treatment.

The district Director of health service disclosed that the Ministry of Health had launched a policy dubbed: 'Anti-malaria drug policy' aimed at providing anti-malaria drugs for pregnant women at pre-defined intervals.

Mr. Hinneh reminded the people, especially nursing mothers about the importance of the use of insecticide treated nets, adding that his outfit had supplied more than 5,000 nets to nursing mothers in the various communities.

In spite of this, malaria cases and its associated infant deaths in the district were on ascendancy, he said and called on assembly members and other opinion leaders to educate the people to promote environmental sanitation and encourage them to use the treated nets to guard against the disease. He mentioned anaemia, low birth weight, abortions, pre-term deliveries and still births as some effects of malaria on pregnant women.

Mr. Hinneh expressed concern about the outbreak of Buluri Ulcer, disclosing that as at June this year, the district had recorded 17 cases as against three cases recorded in the previous year. He appealed to government to take serious note about the spread of the disease since Buluri Ulcer caused great damage to the health of its victims.