The Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the Upper West Regional Directorate has targeted one hundred and fifty thousand, seven hundred and thirty six to be vaccinated under the seasonal malaria chemo prevention exercise.

 

 

The exercise, which would target children from 3-52 months old, will be administered in four rounds of vaccination to prevent toddlers from contracting malaria with the onset of the rains.

 

 

The Regional Malaria focal person, Titus Tagoe who stated this during an interaction with stakeholders at WA in the Upper West Region urged caregivers to make their wards available for the exercise.

 

 

“The seasonal malaria chemo prevention exercise will be starting in earnest on the 24th of July in the upper West region. A total of 155,736 children from 3 to 59 months are expected to be dosed from July to October”. Mr Tagoe noted.

He touched on the significance of the programme, adding that the vaccination has helped reduced malaria prevalence from 37.8 percent in 2014 to 22percent in 2016.

 

He urged to parents to ensure that their wards are well fed before presenting them for the dose.

Mr. Tagoe said exercise would adopt a door to door approach at all levels. He noted that the SMC drugs are limited to only three months and 59 months old children with SP for the first day and Amodiaquine for the second day and third day.

 

The Regional Director of Health Services Dr. Winfred Ofosu explained the SMC activity as a health care intervention where treatment doses of anti-malaria are given to children to weaken any malaria parasite in the child’s body which comes in every rainy season at the savannah zones. Dr Ofosu called for a collaborative effort to ensure a successful exercise.

 

Alice Abubakari/ Ghanadistricts.com