Koforidua, June 17, GNA - A total of 760 million Dollars was spent on the treatment of malaria and its related problems last year, Dr George Sipa Yankey, Minister of Health has said. He explained that the cost covered the procurement of medicines for the treatment of the disease, storage and transportation of drugs, cost of treatment and man hours lost.

Dr Yankey, who said this at the national launch of Malaria Vector Control Programme at the Koforidua on Wednesday, noted that the cost incurred represented about 10 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Produce (GDP) for 2008.

Such an amount, he said, could be saved through an effective control of mosquitoes and the disease. Dr Yankey said the Vector Control Programme, would recruit about 5,000 young Ghanaians who would be engaged in a mosquito spraying exercise in homes and public places.

He said boarding schools nationwide would be sprayed and pregnant women and nursing mothers would be provided with treated mosquito nets. Dr Yankey said the Republic of Togo, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso have all expressed interest in the project and were counting on Ghana to provide them with the technical support and advice. He said the proposal from the three countries had given Ghana the opportunity to create a malaria control brigade, and the services exported to neighbouring countries besides, the employment opportunity for the youth.

Dr Yankey said the project was being supported by Anglo Gold Ashanti, Sunrise Company, an environmental agency, the Cuban Government and the Zoomlion Company Limited.

The Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, said about 35 per cent of the national budget goes into sanitation and its related issues.

He said in spite of the huge amount of money spent annually on sanitation, malaria was still a menace and therefore called for a redoubling of the national effort to fight it. Mr Afriyie-Ankrah appealed to all to monitor those engaged in the vector control project to ensure that they do a good job to ensure value for money.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo was optimistic that the project would help reduce drastically the mosquito population in the country and the incidents of malaria cases at the hospitals.

He said in 2007, 25,368 malaria cases were reported in health institutions in the region out of which 338 patients were admitted. In 2008, he said the figure went up slightly at 26,464 cases but saw a drooped of 224 persons on admission in the region. Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, Okyenhene, who chaired the function, remarked that the responsibility of ensuring the success of the project rested on individuals by keeping their surroundings clean. 17 June 09