Accra, April 25, GNA- The Ministry of Health is to ban the importation and local manufacturing of unapproved malaria drugs in the country, Dr. George Sipa Yankey, sector Minister announced on Saturday. He said the ban was among measures to enable Ghana to eliminate malaria ahead of the 2010 target of reducing to zero malaria cases and deaths.

The Minister made this known at the commemoration of this year's World Malaria in Accra. The ministry, Ghana Health Service, development partners and other stakeholders in the health sector joined the global community to commemorate the Day under the theme: "Counting Malaria Out". Dr Yankey reiterated his passion to help eliminate the pandemic, since the effects of malaria on lives and the economy were enormous. In 2007, he said, malaria deprived the economy of 730 million dollars, adding that three million cases were recorded in health facilities across the country. The minister expressed his commitment to mobilise more resources to fight the pandemic, and pledged to support the malaria vaccine trial. Dr Yankey thanked the development parents for their support and appealed to them to help subsidise prices of malaria drugs and to also help the local pharmaceutical industry to produce quality but cheaper drugs.

He also hinted the ministry would hold discussions to find out the possibility of conducting indoor residual spraying exercise in senior high schools. Dr Constance Bart-Plange, Programmes Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme expressed concern on misdiagnosis of malaria cases in the country, saying that taking every feverish symptom as malaria was unacceptable. She said there was therefore the need for health workers to thoroughly confirm malaria through microscopy or rapid tests to confirm a patient's status, before treatment.

"Some patients have lost their lives out of misdiagnosis because they were treated for malaria whereas they have other diseases". Touching on the use of herbs to treat malaria, Dr Bart-Plange said Artesunate was made out of herbs and therefore malaria was not treated without herbs.

She advised Ghanaians to stick to the preventive measures of malaria and recommended home based spraying for all households to help curb the disease.

The Programmes Manager urged carpenters in the country to manufacture beds that were insecticide treated nets friendly.