Accra, Aug. 7, GNA - The Society of Private Dental and Medical Practitioners has called on the Ministry of Health (MOH) to update training programmes for laboratory staff of private health institutions to improve the laboratory diagnosis of malaria. The Society, at a press conference on Sunday, at the end of its 27th annual congress in Accra, said also that the MOH should evaluate the different methods of the laboratory diagnosis of malaria and recommend the best method for the country.

The communiqu=E9 of the Association's congress from August 4 to 6, 2005, which deliberated on the theme: "The Challenge of Malaria," was read at press conference.

Dr Edward Prempeh, the current chairman of the Society read the communiqu=E9, in which the Society registered its awareness of the high morbidity and mortality associated with malaria, the high cost of the ravages of malaria to the individual, community and the nation and as well as the difficulty involved in the laboratory diagnosis of the disease.

The Society resolved to recommend to all health care professionals to learn about and implement the new malaria treatment policy, and recommended to the Ghanaian public self-tutorship of malaria prevention and the basic treatment of malaria.

It also resolved to support the MOH 'Roll back Malaria Programme" and strongly recommended health professionals to make it their responsibility to seriously learn about the Programme. "We stress an integrated approach to solving the challenge of malaria today including contributions from the private and public sectors," the Society said.

The Society also took notice of the uncontrolled advertisement on drugs and herbal preparations, and called on the Food and Drugs Board and the National Media Commission to team up to check the practice since it had serious health consequences for the nation. The Society disclosed that the Mampong Akwapim Research Centre into Plant Medicine has proved that only one out of the numerous drugs and herbal preparations for malaria being touted in the media had been certified, with the rest inefficacious and dangerous. The Society therefore, called on the electronic media stations to check the certification of the drugs and herbal preparation before they are advertised.

On the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme, the Association called for the implementation of the Private Sector, including the Private Mutual Health Insurance and Private Commercial Health Insurance Schemes, in addition to the District Mutual Health Insurance scheme supported by government to mitigate cost of treating malaria in terms of money and time.

About 40 per cent clinic attendance is attributed to malaria, which is caused by the transmission of plasmodium into the blood by the female anopheles mosquito that bred in stagnant fresh water. Doctors say the entire country is endemic with number of cases, rising during the rainy season and that private practitioners were in-charge of about 40 per cent of health delivery in Ghana. 07 Aug. 05