Mr. Frimpong said the current control strategy was to ensure that there was early diagnosis with the use of a tool known as the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kit, prompt laboratory confirmation, especially for inpatients, the use of insecticide – treated bed nets, especially for children and pregnant women, and environmental management.
He said the NMCP was also partnering multilateral and bilateral organizations for financial and technical support to control malaria and collaborate with local and international research groups on malaria – related issues.

The president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Dr. Alex Dodoo, said there was an urgent need for rigorous data to inform malaria policy in Africa.
Consequently, he said, a new project dubbed INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) of anti-malaria drugs in Africa that would provide the platform for the effectiveness and efficiency of anti-malaria drugs to be studied in real-life settings in Africa was in the Offing.
The four year project which is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will take place in the sub-Saharan Africa, which has 90 percent of all malaria cases world-wide.
The countries involved in the project are Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Burkina Faso. It will, however, start in Ghana and Tanzania.
In Ghana, Dr. Dodoo said, the research would be undertaken at three sites, namely, Dodowa, Kintampo, and Navrogo, and the participants would be monitored when given Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs).

Dr. George Obeng   Adjei of the Center for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics of the University of Ghana, Legon, said the efficacy of ACTs in curing uncomplicated malaria was well documented but added that when the drug was misused; it might lead to compromised efficacy.
A media consultant, Mr. Kofi Wellington, called on the media to develop closer relations with scientists and also ensure that their stories were well researched and accurate.

The Executive Secretary of AMMREN, Mrs. Charity Binka, said the media were the gatekeepers of every society and, therefore, they must not be left out in efforts to hound malaria out of the world.
“It is only through the active participation of the media in malaria eradication efforts that the menace can be conquered,” she said.

Source
Daily Graphic.