By Benjamin Akoto
Sunyani, April 26, GNA – The United Nations Association (UNA), Bono Region has commemorated this year’s World Malaria Day with a call on the public to assist in preventing the incidence of malaria at a forum in Sunyani.
Speaking at the forum on the theme “Time to Deliver Zero Malaria: Invest, Innovate, Implement” Dr. Aaron Asare, a private medical practitioner said the public’s assistance to control the prevalence of the disease in the country could be done by particularly relying on a preventive method of keeping the environment clean to ensure there were no mosquitoes breeding grounds around “our homes”.
Dr. Asare, also the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Health Lane Hospital in Sunyani added citizens must be well-informed about the symptoms of the disease and report to the nearest health facility for diagnosis and treatment if required.
He said that would complement the government’s effort to control and prevent the disease’s prevalence, stressing that it would also reduce government’s expenditure on the procurement of medication for the money saved to be used for other equally vital sectors like education.
Later in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the theme, Dr. Asare explained investment in malaria would require that drugs were readily available for treatment, while citizens’ view on the disease was also enhanced.
He cited “in Sunyani some people think that being exposed to sunshine is the cause of malaria, but that’s incorrect because it is caused by the plasmodium parasite”.
Dr. Asare therefore reiterated the need for citizens to keep their environments clean to become mosquito-free, saying “the people must adhere to such basic facts to stay in mosquito-ridden environments but not be bitten by mosquitoes before they report for malaria treatment”.
He stated malaria was a serious health condition and could be complicated by other health conditions such as urinal failure and hemolytic anemia where the red blood cells break up, while people could also become jaundiced.
Dr. Asare urged citizens to report for early diagnoses and treatment of malaria, saying treatment must be thorough depending on the patient’s presentation and if there was vomiting, injection must first be administered, followed by taking of tablets.
He advised patients to have a full treatment of the sickness, saying they must ensure the sickness was completely cured and after a week go for a review to ascertain if there were no malaria parasites.
GNA