By Godfred A. Polkuu
Bolgatanga, July 3, GNA – The Bolgatanga Municipal Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the Upper East Region, has commenced the first round of the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) therapy in the Municipality.
The Directorate undertakes the annual SMC exercise and mass registration for Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN) in the Municipality during the rainy season when malaria infection in children peaked.
The exercise aims to maintain the anti-malarial drug concentrations in children’s blood throughout the rainy season when health facilities record high malaria cases in children.
Mr Stephen Bordotsiah, the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of the GHS, who led a team of officials from the Directorate to supervise the exercise, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the week-long exercise which started on July 2, 2024, would end on July 8, 2024.
He said eligible children from three to 59 months would be given dosages of Sulphsulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) plus Amodiaquine (AQ) by volunteers deployed to various households within the Municipality.
He said to ensure that no child within the age range in the Municipality was left out in the first-round dosing exercise, “We also have some teams at all the facilities attending to those who come for Child Welfare Clinic sessions.”
Mr Bordotsiah explained that the exercise would be in five rounds and that the rest of the four rounds of dosing would be rolled out in subsequent months within the year and cautioned that SMC should not be administered to children less than three months old or more than 59 months.
The Director, who at the time of the interview, visited the Tindonsoligo, Kalbeo, Bolgatanga Health Centres and was en route to the Coronation Health Centre and other facilities within the Municipality with his team, said “So far, so good. We do not have any challenges for now.”
He said as part of the SMC exercise, the Directorate undertook mass registration of households in the Municipality for the distribution of Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN).
He noted that due to the peri-urban nature of the Municipality where some residents left for work and returned in the evening, the Directorate deployed volunteers to attend to them in the evening.
“We will ensure everybody within the Municipality gets registered for the net and ensure that also eligible children are dosed for the SMC,” the Director said.
He urged parents and guardians to avail their eligible children of the doses, and further encouraged them to register for the LLIN and use them for the intended purpose.
Some parents of children at the Child Welfare Clinic at the Bolgatanga Health Centre, who received dosages of the medicine for their children, told the GNA that the onset of the rains brought about mosquitoes, and were hopeful that with the doses, malaria infection in their children would be eradicated.
They commended the Municipal Director and Management of the GHS in the Municipality for the initiative to ensure that malaria infection among the targeted age group was prevented.
“My child just received some dosages of the medicine, and I am happy with the way the Director came in and interacted with the nurses to ensure that the right thing is done,” Madam Khadija Mohammed, a parent, said.
GNA