FIFTY-FOUR out of 4,263 people who fell sick with malaria died in the Kwahu South District last year.

The most affected age group among the people were children under five years.

This was disclosed by the Kwahu South District Director of Health Services, Dr. Kwadwo Opare-Larbi at a durbar held at Kwahu-Tafo recently to climax the five-day programme on roll-back malaria in the Kwahu South district.

He said in Ghana, malaria is the number one cause of morbidity, accounting for about 40% of all out-patient (OPD) attendance and is the leading cause of mortality in children under five years, a significant cause of adult morbidity and the leading cause of work days lost due to illness.

Dr. Opare-Larbi said short and long-term impact of malaria on productivity cannot be over-emphasised

He stated that the disease is preventable and therefore urged Ghanaians to make every effort to prevent it.

He said malaria is caused by a parasite which is transmitted by the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito.

According to him, the commonest parasite responsible for malaria in this country and especially Kwahu South district is plasmodium falciparicum.

He, therefore, called on the people to ensure healthy environment since mosquitoes breed in surface water and fillings in ponds, potholes, old tyres, empty cans, choked gutters, drainaged itches and many others.

He also advised the people to avoid mosquito bites by screening windows and doors with mosquito netting, wearing protective clothing such as long trousers, long skirts and garments with long sleeves, using mosquito repellant creams and coils, killing adult mosquitoes by regular spraying of all houses with residual insecticide and other methods.

According to Dr. Opare-Larbi, there had been several approaches to malaria control in Ghana, the most recent one is the roll-back malaria initiative.

He said the overall goal of this initiative is to facilitate human development by reducing the malaria disease burden by 50% by the year 2010.

He mentioned the four main components of this strategy as improve case management, multiple prevention, focused research and improved partnership.

He called on health workers to have adequate knowledge and skill to manage all cases of malaria well, including complications, to reduce morbidity and mortality due to malaria.

The Kwahu South District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr. Raymond Osafo Djan said malaria is increasingly being recognized as a disease of major public concern and by WHO Regional Office for Africa, it causes 10.6% of lost Disability Adjusted Life Years, second to HIV/AIDS.

He said the malaria burden is a challenge to human development and is the number one cause of death accounting for about 40% of all out-patients (OPD) attendance.

The DCE said malaria is able to take such a heavy toll on our health, live and economic activities that it makes very sad commentary because the disease though dreadful, is preventable and its prevention is not also costly.

He urged the people to keep their surroundings clean and follow instructions on the use of malaria drugs to enable them be free from the disease.

On his part, the Deputy Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. E. Tenkorang, said as a global effort to control malaria, WHO in 1998 initiated the roll-back malaria programme.

This programme, he said, aims at partners working together to an agreed plan that focused on results.

He said the key principle of roll-back malaria initiative is to make malaria control a participatory issue, bringing all stakeholders together in a concerted effort.

As part of the five-day programme, health workers in the district organised health education workshops, clean-up campaigns and many other activities