Koforidua, Dec. 15, GNA - Malaria cases continue to rise in the New Juaben Municipality despite interventions such as the use of treated bed nets. Out Patient's Department (OPD) malaria figures in the municipality, for instance, rose from 30,550 cases in 2006 to 82,192 by the third quarter of 2008.

Mr Samuel Agyemang Boateng, Acting Director of Health Services in the municipality, said by the third quarter of 2006, OPD cases rose to 150,267 out of which malaria recorded 30,550. He said in 2007, within the same period, some 219,000 OPD cases were recorded out of which 63,168 were malaria related. He said in 2008, the OPD cases rose to 244,363 with malaria taking 82,192 of these cases, registering an ascendancy of the disease burden. Mr. Boateng was speaking with journalists from the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) at a day's seminar on the linkages between malaria and HIV and AIDS at Koforidua.

The programme was organised by Women, Media and Change, a non-governmental organisation.

It formed part of this year's World AIDS Day and was sponsored by INDEPTH-Network, an organisation overseeing the development of a malaria vaccine for Africa.

Mr Boateng mentioned the lack of access to health care, life-saving drugs, treated bed-nets as some reasons for the ascendancy in illnesses and deaths associated with malaria. He said malaria was responsible for spontaneous abortion in pregnant women and reduced foetal growth among others. He said severe and complicated malaria could lead to neurological problems in children.

Dr Samson Ofori, Eastern Regional Coordinator of the National AIDS Control Programme, told the journalists that the region with a 4.2 percent HIV prevalence rate had one of the highest in the country. He said currently there were about 18,032 people on anti-retroviral treatment at 110 sites across the country. The journalist later interacted with the Matthew Chapter 25 Organisation made up of people living with HIV. Reverend Father Bobby Benson, a Catholic Priest who runs the organisation, told the group that men do not usually tell their HIV story.

He said women, unlike their male counterparts, told their stories because they usually bore the brunt of HIV infection. He said women with the added burden of caring for their children, were forced to share their burden and seek help. Rev. Benson appealed for help for the organisation, saying they needed support to get anti-retroviral drugs and food. 15 Dec. 08