Professor Fred Newton Binka, an epidemiologist and former vice chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, has pushed for more individuals to receive training in malaria diagnosis and treatment.
He stated that he thought the nation's efforts to eradicate malaria would be substantially aided if at least two million people were taught to test for and treat malaria.
Prof. Binka recommended that retired teachers and government employees who were still living in their communities might all receive training in the management of malaria during an interview with the Daily Graphic.
"They tell you there is no hospital in your community where you are a retired teacher or government employee, but you are the hospital. The government can provide you with the training, and we can help you. children's medications, and you may test and treat them. And by doing so, you will have contributed to society, he said.
He believed that since many Ghanaians were already familiar with malaria, educating and certifying them to diagnose and treat the disease would have a good effect on Ghana's efforts to eradicate the disease and would also assist avoid the misuse of malaria medications or treatment.
Prof. Binka was giving a speech last Thursday in Accra on the margins of a workshop that had been put on for the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ministry of Health with assistance from the non-governmental organization (NGO) Speak Up Africa.
He said that by educating and certifying numerous Ghanaians in the treatment of malaria, reliable statistics on the scope of the problem could be obtained.
The epidemiologist and researcher noted that the number of individuals who self-treated malaria—that is, without going to a qualified individual who could do tests and give them the right medications—was around ten times greater than the number of people who visited specialists.
According to Prof. Binka, this made it challenging for the GHS and the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) to obtain precise statistics on the scope of the illness in the nation.
medical difficulties
"At the present, malaria's medical complications are resolved. We can now easily test for malaria, and anyone can learn how to do it. We are all aware of this.
In addition, Prof. Binka urged the government to allocate more funds to the battle against malaria, stating that "if resources are not provided to the people in the rural regions, we can do nothing."
He said that "when money is supplied at the national level, they don't distribute it to the local level," despite the fact that local assemblies required funding to carry out programs to eradicate malaria.
He said that political commitment was the silver bullet that would enable the nation eradicate malaria and that there had been very little funding allocated to combat the disease.
the workshop's core
The goal of the workshop, according to the NMCP's Programme Manager Dr. Keziah Malm, was to enable people have a better knowledge of malaria. In essence, she stated, "we are truly fighting for the eventual eradication of malaria in the country; if not in the entire country, at least in part of the country."
She stated that getting the correct political commitment was one of the essential components to assisting in the elimination of malaria in the nation, therefore "the need to engage Parliament to advance the agenda to eliminate malaria."